The NZDUSD opens at 0.6914 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD has had a reasonable start to the week making small gains against all its rivals and one of the few currencies to hold its own against a rising USD. The NZDUSD had traded up as high as 0.6940 during our trading day but lost momentum as the US dollar index (DXY) turned positive.
With yesterday’s French Presidential election delivering the expected result investor focus switched from political concerns, to the weekend’s economic data releases. The stronger than expected US employment report appears to be the main driver for the strengthening USD with the market as of this morning now fully pricing in a hike in US interest rates from the Federal Reserve at their next meeting on June 15th.
Overnight Germany's factory orders increased for the second consecutive month in March, growing by 1% m/m after a revised 3.5% increase in February. The result was in line with expectations.
Global equity markets are mixed - Dow -0.05%, S&P 500 -0.05%, FTSE +0.05%, DAX -0.18%, CAC -0.91%, Nikkei +2.31% Shanghai -0.79%.
Gold prices are unchanged trading at $1,227 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil are little changed currently trading at $46.32 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6914 0.1%
NZDEUR 0.6325 1.0%
NZDGBP 0.5341 0.4%
NZDJPY 78.18 0.4%
NZDAUD 0.9358 0.5%
NZDCAD 0.9475 0.5%
GBPNZD 1.8723 -0.4%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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