NZ dollar gains from positive surveys THE New Zealand dollar rose to a 10-day high against the greenback after manufacturing and consumer confidence surveys painted a more optimistic picture of the local economy. The kiwi climbed to 84.74 US cents at 5pm in Wellington, rising as high as 84.93 cents, from 84.10 cents on Wednesday. The trade-weighted index advanced to 76.87 from 76.17. The local currency got a boost from strong second-tier data, with consumer confidence at a 32-month high, according to an ANZ Roy Morgan survey, and manufacturing activity at an eight-month high, based on a BNZ-Business New Zealand series. New Zealand has been a darling among investors as it offers positive returns on governments bonds, and commentators are picking interest rates will rise later this year. "It all comes down to the fact that on a relative basis, New Zealand looks pretty good," said Chris Tennent-Brown, FX economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney. There's been a lot of interest in the kiwi today, and the moves from the new data sparked a bit of interest. The kiwi climbed to 79.16 yen at 5pm in Wellington from 78.22 yen on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan kept the benchmark interest rate at 0.1 per cent and reaffirmed its aggressive monetary easing to achieve annual inflation of two per cent. The kiwi rose to a new post-float high against the pound at 54.64 British pence, and traded at 54.60 at 5pm in Wellington from 53.66 pence on Wednesday. The kiwi also climbed to 63.02 euro cents from 62.55 cents.