90 seconds at 9am: Dollar boost, Portugal targets deficit, local class action against banks

Gareth Vaughan, sitting in for Bernard Hickey, details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9am in association with the BNZ , including news that the New Zealand dollar hit another post 1986 float high against the British pound. The New Zealand dollar was boosted overnight by yesterday's Business New Zealand/BNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index. The PMI rose to 58.9 last month from 56.7 in March. It was the index's strongest April in six years and the PMI is now at its highest level since December 2004. In another boost, Oceania whole milk powder prices hit $5,632 per metric tonne, their highest level since August 2008. Portugal's government plans to cut the wages of top government officials and raise taxes - temporarily - in an attempt to trim its budget deficit. The government is targeting a 2010 deficit of 7.3% of gross domestic product. According to the Dominion Post, two Christchurch law firms are planning a class action lawsuit against local banks over alleged excessive fees, along similar lines to the suit announced in Australia this week.