The NZDUSD opens at 0.6925 (mid-rate) this morning.
Sentiment continues to improve, increasing risk appetite, after China reported strong export growth for March. The NZDUSD touched 0.6950 immediately after the China data release and has continued to hold 0.6900 through last night's data releases.
Overnight some disappointing economic data releases out of the U.S had little effect on sentiment or the U.S dollar, which has made steady gains against all its major counterparties.
The U.S retail sales and PPI data releases fell short of economists estimates with retail sales for the month of March edging up 0.2% (expected +0.4%) from February’s flat result. The producer price index also disappointed down 0.1% in March (expected +0.3%) after falling by 0.2% in February.
Locally we have the NZ Manufacturing index data release hitting the tapes at 10:45 while the monthly Australian employment data should dictate direction for the NZDAUD cross.
Global equity markets continue to rise - Dow +0.97%, S&P 500 +0.78%, FTSE +1.93%, DAX +2.71%, CAC +3.32%, Nikkei +2.84%, Shanghai +1.42%
Gold prices are down $10 trading at $1246 (-0.8%) an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is holding steady at $42.20 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6925 0.1%
NZDEUR 0.6135 1.0%
NZDGBP 0.4870 0.5%
NZDJPY 75.65 0.7%
NZDAUD 0.9042 0.4%
NZDCAD 0.8866 0.5%
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
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10:30 - Business NZ Manufacturing Index
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13:30 - Australian Employment Data Release
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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