The NZDUSD opens at 0.7343 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD has continued to push higher overnight posting a new post-election high against the USD and trading back above 0.9200 against the AUD, with a sharp fall in iron ore prices weighing on our cross Tasman rival.
Germany's economic confidence is sitting at an eight month high with the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment increasing to 20.4 in January well ahead of the 17.7 forecast result. The increase represents a 3 point gain from December’s 17.4 reading but is still short of the long-term average of 23.7.
The UK’s December public sector net borrowing which excludes banks, decreased by GBP 2.5B from the previous year to GBP 2.6B and represents the lowest December net in 17 years. A GBP 1.2B credit from the European Union and higher value-added tax were the main reasons for the result.
Overnight tonight, manufacturing and services data releases out of Europe and the US will dictate direction with tomorrow morning’s quarterly inflation data the key driver for the NZD.
Global equity markets are mixed - Dow -0.11%, S&P 500 +0.12%, FTSE +0.21%, DAX +0.71%, CAC -0.12%, Nikkei +1.29%, Shanghai +1.29%.
Gold prices are up 0.5% trading at $1,337 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices continue to climb, up a further 1.0% overnight trading at $64.21 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
| NZDUSD | 0.7343 | 0.5% |
| NZDEUR | 0.5979 | 0.1% |
| NZDGBP | 0.5252 | 0.2% |
| NZDJPY | 81.12 | -0.1% |
| NZDAUD | 0.9199 | 0.8% |
| NZDCAD | 0.9156 | 0.6% |
| GBPNZD | 1.9041 | -0.3% |
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
- 15:00 - Credit Card Spending y/y
To subscribe to our free daily Currency Rate Sheet and News email, enter your email address here.
Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.