The NZDUSD opens at 0.8700 this morning.
Escalation of tensions between Russia and the West, and concerns over Israel's ground offensive in Gaza, has triggered buying of safe-haven currencies such as the USD. However, the NZD has still managed to trade back to levels last seen mid last week.
The EUR declined after the Bank of Italy reduced its economic outlook in the euro zone's third largest economy.
The RBNZ have a monetary policy meeting this Thursday. Despite recent weaker data, they are expected to raise the OCR by 0.25% to 3.50% and also signal that this will be the last hike for a while (at least until after September's election).
Geopolitical events are likely to dominate global headlines. Any significant ratchet up in tensions is likely to negatively impact 'risky assets' such as the NZD.
Global equity markets were mixed on the day - Dow +0.7%, Nikkei -1.1%, Shanghai +0.3%, FTSE+0.2%, DAX -0.4%
Gold prices dropped to USD$1310. Oil prices fell by 0.6%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8700
NZDEUR 0.6430
NZDGBP 0.5090
NZDJPY 88.15
NZDAUD 0.9260
NZDCAD 0.9335
NZ Visitor Arrivals & Credit Card Spending hit the tapes today.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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