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5/2/2008 4:49:57 AM The New Zealand dollar climbed 4-day and 18-day highs against its Australian and European counterparts in early deals on Friday. The NZ dollar rose against its other major counterparts too during this time.

The New Zealand kiwi hit as high as 0.7811 against the US currency and 81.78 against the Japanese yen during today`s early deals. The kiwi-dollar pair closed yesterday`s trading at 0.7779 and kiwi-yen pair at 81.22.

The US April unemployment rate, change in Nonfarm payrolls and the factory orders report for March are expected to drive deals in the New York morning.

Against its Australian counterpart, the kiwi hit a 4-day high of 1.1923 by about 3:50 am ET Friday. The Aussie-kiwi pair closed yesterday`s trading at 1.2009.

Retail sales in Australia increased a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in March, to a seasonally adjusted total of A$20.17 billion. This follows a decrease of -0.1% in February 2008. Most economists had predicted a much more modest increase of 0.1%. On a quarterly basis, retail sales declined 0.1% from the fourth quarter of 2007.

The New Zealand dollar strengthened against its European counterpart during today`s early deals. At about 4:15 am ET, the kiwi climbed to an 18-day high of 1.9838, compared to yesterday`s closing value of 1.9900. As of now, the pair is worth 1.9845.

A report from the statistical office INSEE said that the French producer prices rose 0.5% month-on-month in March, in line with expectations. In February, producer prices had climbed 0.4%. Year-on-year, producer prices were up 5.2% in March, slightly more than the 5.1% rise expected. Copyright © 2007 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved.