The NZDUSD opens lower at 0.8555 this morning.
Heightened geopolical tensions over Ukraine weighed on the EUR as the potential impact of further sanctions against Russia undermined German business sentiment.
The USD strengthened on the release of better than expected US durable goods orders, as recent run of US data continues to impress.
The above factors caused the NZD to weaken. The NZDUSD touching a 6 1/2 week low of 0.8541 overnight, while the NZDGBP fell to 0.5030 - level last seen 7 1/2 weeks ago.
The US Federal Reserve has an interest rate meeting on Thursday, followed by the closely watched and influential US non-farm payroll employment figures. These are the important global data releases this week.
Global equity markets were mostly lower up on the day - Dow -0.7%, Nikkei +1.1%, Shanghai +1.1%, FTSE-0.4%, DAX -1.5%
Gold prices rose 1% to USD$1308. Oil prices gained 1.2%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8555
NZDEUR 0.6370
NZDGBP 0.5040
NZDJPY 87.10
NZDAUD 0.9105
NZDCAD 0.9255
There is no data scheduled on the domestic data calendar 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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