NZDUSD has opened marginally stronger this morning at .6708 (0.2%).
Overnight the USD was on the receiving end of softer data when their Retail Sales numbers came in at -.3% followed by the NFIB Small Business Index also being below expectations.
Investors are fairly cautious at the moment ahead of Yellen’s speech in front of Congress over the next couple of days.
It is thought she will continue to reiterate that rate hikes are still likely to be seen in 2015.
Crossing over to the UK, we see the Bank of England Governor Carney has hinted that a interest rate hike is also moving closer after the performance the UK economy.
This has helped the UK .9% overnight and the GBP being one the best performing currencies.
NAB’s business confidence yesterday saw an improvement for the Australian economy and this has potentially hinted that we may see no further rate cuts in the short term or the rest of 2015.
Greek Prime Minister Tsipras has to now convince his Parliament that the austerity measures are the right route to take by Wednesday’s deadline or the country is likely to face bankruptcy.
NZDUSD 0.6708 -0.2%
NZDEUR 0.6089 0.1%
NZDGBP 0.4287 -0.8%
NZDJPY 82.41 0.8%
NZDAUD 0.8986 -0.5%
NZDCAD 0.8530 0.1%
World equity markets are in positive territory for the moment with Dow +.04%, S&P 500 +0.5%, FTSE +0.2%, DAX +0.3%, CAC +0.5%, Nikkei +1.5%, Shanghai -1.2%
Upcoming Data releases:
- CNY - GDP - 14:00
- CNY - Industrial Production - 14:00
- CNY - Retail Sales - 14:00
- JPY - BoJ Press Conference - 15:00
- GBP – Claimant Change - 20:30
- GBP – Average Earnings - 20:30
- USD – Fed Yellen Testifies - 00:30
- NZD – GDT Price Index - Early morning 16/7
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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