The local currency was trading at US96.08 in early trade -- its highest level since it touched US97.92c on July 25, 2008. The Australian sharemarket also opened strongly after the positive leads. In early trade, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index had risen 56.4 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 4658.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was 53.8 points higher, or 1.16 per cent, at 4705.3.

Westpac New Zealand senior market strategist Imre Speizer said the local currency rose more than US1 cent during the offshore session as US equities closed "much higher". Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. "Much of the boost was around the US durable goods data," Mr Speizer said from Wellington.

"If you were to guess the direction or bias today, you would have to say it is upwards."New York's Dow Jones index rose nearly 2 per cent on Friday as economic data continued to show the prospect of a double dip recession in the world's largest economy is weakening. In the absence of any local economic data today, Mr Speizer predicted the domestic currency would trade around the US96 cent level. He said there was a "reasonably high" chance the local currency would touch the two year high, just under US98 cents, in upcoming sessions.