WELLINGTON—The New Zealand dollar was trading higher late Monday after breaching US$0.7600 in early trading as the currency was buoyed by news out of Greece. The catalyst for this morning's move was polls out of Greece that showed the pro-bailout New Democracy Party was far ahead of the far left anti-bailout party Syriza, Westpac WBC.AU +1.39% currency strategist Imre Speizer said. "That is combined with positioning which is very extended in favor of bearish trades" and as a result there has been some rebounding, said Speizer. He said there is a possibility the New Zealand dollar will rebound to the US$0.7700-US$0.7800 range now that it has started to move higher. Market direction is likely to continue to come from offshore over the week with little local data expected. Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Mike Jones said in a note Europe will remain the focus early in the week with the U.S. creeping into the spotlight later. "The Greek prognosis and associated potential for contagion is the dominant focus for markets but, as we noted in a strategy note last week, the uncertainty here is simply too great to make a call on," Jones said. "However, we do know that global risk aversion can worsen from here." New Zealand government bonds moved lower while interest rates move higher due to factors including moves in Australian interest rate swaps, reduced expectations by the market for a possible rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and low liquidity, said a local bond trader. -By Lucy Craymer, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; lucy.craymer@dowjones.com

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