“Australia’s dollar gained to its strongest since September 2008 versus the yen and a three-week high versus the greenback as Chinese data showed imports rose to a record in the nation’s biggest overseas market.
The New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, climbed to the highest level in more than four years against the yen as Asian stocks advanced for a second day on Chinese growth optimism.
“The Chinese data is a whole lot better than anyone expected with both imports and exports accelerating,” said Mike Jones, a currency strategist at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington. “That will only add to recent investor optimism that the Chinese rebound has got legs and should take the Aussie dollar higher.”
Australia’s currency climbed 0.3 percent to $1.0552 as of 4:31 p.m. in Sydney after touching $1.0555, its strongest since Dec. 18. The currency strengthened 0.7 percent to 93.03 yen, the most since September 2008.
New Zealand’s dollar gained 0.1 percent to 84.05 U.S. cents. It rose as high as 74.10 yen, the strongest since September 2008, before trading at 74.09 yen from 73.78 yesterday.
China’s exports rose 14.1 percent in December from a year earlier while imports increased 6 percent, leaving a trade surplus of $31.6 billion, the customs administration said today.
The pickup in shipments abroad compares with the 5 percent median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey and a projected 3.5 percent increase for imports….”
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