The NZDUSD opens at 0.6840 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD has lost ground against all its major trading partners with the exception of the AUD, ahead of this morning’s RBNZ rate statement.
The big mover over the past 24hrs has been the AUD, following a much weaker than expected Q1 CPI data release the Australian dollar has lost nearly 2% of its value against all its major trading partners, including the NZD with the market now pricing a 50% chance of a rate cut at next week’s RBA rate announcement. Prior to the data release the market had been pricing a 14% chance of a rate cut at their May meeting.
This morning, and in line with expectations, the Federal Reserve made no change to monetary policy and delivered a statement which apart from a few subtle changes in the wording was much the same as the March release.
The Fed acknowledged labour market conditions had “improved further” since the FOMC’s last meeting, but “growth in economic activity appears to have slowed.” They also mentioned that the housing sector “had improved further” since the beginning of the year.
This morning’s RBNZ statement will dictate direction for the NZD with market consensus picking no change to the current OCR of 2.25%.
Later this afternoon the bank of Japan will conclude a two-day policy meeting with investors keen to see if the recent strengthening of the Yen will see the BOJ ease once again.
Global equity markets remain mixed. - Dow +0.39%, S&P 500 -0.01%, FTSE +0.56%, DAX +0.39%, CAC +0.58%, Nikkei -0.36%, Shanghai -0.37%.
Gold prices are up $3 currently trading $1245 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil continues to climb up another 3.0% at $45.30 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6840 -0.6%
NZDEUR 0.6045 -0.9%
NZDGBP 0.4705 -0.4%
NZDJPY 76.20 -0.7%
NZDAUD 0.9030 1.5%
NZDCAD 0.8635 -0.6%
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
- 09.00 - RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
- Tentative - BOJ - Monetary Policy Statement
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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