The NZDUSD opens at 0.8770 this morning.
The USD rose broadly overnight after a private sector employment report showed the US economy created the most jobs in 1 1/2 years.
This bodes well for tonight's more influential and closely watched US non-farm payrolls employment - seen as a key barometer of the world's largest economy.
Strong payrolls reading would reinforce the view the US Fed will continue to rein in its monetary stimulus measures, something which is seen as ultimately good for the USD.
The NZD was confined within recent ranges overnight.
The above mentioned US non-farm payrolls numbers will be the major focus over the next 16 hours. However, before that we have services data from China, and retail sales and building approvals out of Australia, as well as a European Central Bank interest rate policy meeting.
The EUR weaken a touch ahead of the ECB meeting, while the GBPUSD hit a 6-year high as UK data continues to impress.
Friday is the US 4th of July holiday - this can impact on market liquidity and volatility.
Global equity markets were mostly higher on the day - Dow +0.1%, Nikkei +0.3%, Shanghai +0.3%, FTSE +0.2%, DAX +0.1%
Gold prices rose marginally to USD$1327. Oil prices fell -1.1%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8770
NZDEUR 0.6420
NZDGBP 0.5110
NZDJPY 89.25
NZDAUD 0.9290
NZDCAD 0.9355
There is no data scheduled on the domestic calendar today.
Retail Sales and Building Approvals will be released from Australia this afternoon, along with Chinese Services data.
ECB interest rate meeting and US non-farm payrolls employment data hit the tapes 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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