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The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Monday, March 2, 2015

Currencies
The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Monday, March 2, 2015

By Dan Bell

The NZDUSD opens 0.7560-0.7575 in early Monday morning trading, having spiked near 0.7600 on the initial market opening.

China’s central bank eased monetary policy Saturday night to ward off deflation and further stimulate their economy and housing markets.

The NZDUSD spiked higher in early trading this morning as a consequence.

US data was mixed which helped temper expectations of when the US Federal Reserve will begin to raise interest rates.

The USD was little changed across the board in response; however it still achieved a record 8th month of gains against a basket of currencies.

The results of Fonterra’s latest Global Dairy Trade, scheduled for release Wednesday, is most notable release on the domestic calendar this week.

While we get a Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate meeting Tuesday (they lowered rates by 0.25% to 2.25% at the last meeting), the all-important US non-farm payrolls employment numbers will print Friday night.

Global equity markets were mixed on the day – Dow -0.5%, Nikkei +0.1%, Shanghai +0.2%, FTSE-0.0%, DAX +0.7%

Gold prices rose to USD$1,213. Oil prices (Brent crude) jumped over 3% higher to USD$62.58 per barrel.

The current indicative mid-rates are:

NZDUSD           0.7570
NZDEUR           0.6770
NZDGBP           0.4905
NZDJPY              90.65
NZDAUD           0.9675
NZDCAD           0.9460

NZ Overseas Trade Index will be released at 10:45am today.

Australian Company Operating Profit and the HSBC Chinese Manufacturing data hit the tapes this afternoon.

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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »

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