The NZDUSD opens at 0.6969 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD starts this morning steady against the USD, GBP, JPY and CAD after quiet overnight ranges, and is up against the AUD and EUR.
In the week ending April 1, the advance figure for U.S. seasonally adjusted initial claims was 234,000, a decrease of 25,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 258,000 to 259,000. The 4-week moving average was 250,000.
The surprise in an otherwise uneventful calendar overnight was the ECB President Draghi speaking 13 hours earlier than expected due to a reschedule. The topic was Monetary Policy and the economic recovery in the Euro Area.
The main points of the speech were: “Monetary policy is working and that it has been a key factor behind the resilience of the euro area economy over recent years.” “The recovery is progressing and may now be gaining momentum, though risks still remain tilted to the downside.” “That despite these improvements, inflation dynamics continue to depend on the continuation of our current monetary policy stance – a stance that is determined by the interaction between all three main policy instruments: interest rates, asset purchases and forward guidance on both.”
Overnight data releases tonight include BoE Governor Carney speaking and Manufacturing Production for the UK, and U.S. Unemployment rate, Non-Farm Employment Change, and Average hourly earnings. FOMC member Dudley speaks.
Global equity markets are mixed: Dow +0.09%, S&P +0.13%, FTSE -0.39%, DAX +0.11%, CAC -+0.58%, Nikkei -1.4%, Shanghai +0.33%.
Gold prices are down 0.6% currently trading at $1,247 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is little changed trading at $51.17 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6969 0.0%
NZDEUR 0.6543 0.2%
NZDGBP 0.5585 0.0%
NZDJPY 77.20 0.0%
NZDAUD 0.9239 0.5%
NZDCAD 0.9349 0.0%
GBPNZD 1.7898 0.0%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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