The NZDUSD opens lower at 0.8645 this morning.
Prices fell yet again at the latest Fonterra Global Dairy auction.
Prices fell 8.9% since the last auction, and have dropped a substantial 18.9% the past 2 months.
This has minimal impact on the NZD however.
US manufacturing growth accelerated for a 2nd straight month, while Chinese manufacturing data, released yesterday afternoon, disappointed overall - the official data showed a small expansion, while HSBC figures indicated a continued contraction.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept the Cash rate at 2.5%, as expected. The outlook is for a period of steady rate as the stimulus from previous cuts continues to have an impact. They did mention the AUD is high by historic standards. The AUD ultimately fell in response, which took the NZD along for the ride.
Global equity markets were higher on the day - Dow +0.4%, Nikkei -0.2 %, Shanghai +0.8%, FTSE +0.8%, DAX +0.5%
Gold prices fell 0.3% to USD$1279. Oil prices dropped a hefty 2.0%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8645
NZDEUR 0.6270
NZDGBP 0.5200
NZDJPY 89.65
NZDAUD 0.9355
NZDCAD 0.9540
ANZ commodity prices figures will be released today at 1:00pm.
Australian building approvals hit the tapes at 1:30pm, followed by the US ADP non-farm employment numbers (a precursor to Friday night's Non-farm Payroll figures) and US factory orders will be released tonight.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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