The New Zealand dollar tumbled against the greenback overnight as investors moved away from riskier assets. Earlier today the kiwi briefly dropped below US69c, and by 8am had recovered only slightly to US69.11c.

At 5pm yesterday it was buying US70.20c. "The currency moves overnight were especially vicious, with many key levels getting taken out, causing further downward moves," ANZ said today.

"Risk assets were under the hammer overnight, as investors exited equities, commodities and high yielding currencies, and made a mad dash into the relative safety of US Treasuries." The US dollar had been the clear winner, although only by default, with the yen gaining as well, ANZ said.

The NZ dollar was also down to 62.21 yen at the local open from 63.90 at 5pm, and fell to 0.5111 euro at 8am from 0.5155 at the local close. Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi fell to A77.69c at the local open from A77.99c at 5pm, while the trade weighted index dropped to 64.23 at 8am from 65.04 at the local close.

The US dollar fell against the yen but rose against the euro after US consumer confidence slid to a 10-month low and sapped risk appetite. American consumers in February were in their gloomiest mood since April 2009 as their outlook for the job market worsened, a private report showed.