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The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Currencies
The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Wednesday, June 21, 2017

By Dan Bell

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7228 (mid-rate) this morning.

The Kiwi was the best performing of the G10 currencies in the past 24 hours, particularly against the Great British Pound which continues to struggle.

Prices in the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, the 12th sale of calendar 2017, declined 0.8% following a 0.6% gain previously. This was the first decline after six successive gains. Whole Milk Powder prices fell 3.3% following a 2.9% decline previously, although Skim Milk Powder prices rose 1.4% and butter prices have continued to rise. Prices are still fractionally above December 2016 highs in the latest auction which will underpin sentiment. It will, however, be crucial to hold this support area during July and through the New Zealand winter to help sustain confidence in the underlying outlook.

In April 2017 the Current Account of the Euro Area recorded a surplus of €22.2 billion. This reflected surpluses for goods (€25.1 billion), primary income (€8.2 billion) and services (€7.4 billion), which were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€18.5 billion).  The 12-month cumulated current account for the period ending in April 2017 recorded a surplus of €349.9 billion (3.2% of euro area GDP), compared with one of €358.6 billion (3.4% of euro area GDP) for the 12 months to April 2016.  In the financial account, combined direct and portfolio investment recorded net acquisitions of assets of €71 billion and net incurrences of liabilities of €1 billion.

In May 2017 the German Producer Prices Index for industrial products rose by 2.8% compared with the corresponding month of the preceding year. Compared with the preceding month April 2017 the overall index fell by 0.2% in May 2017.

The U.S. current account deficit increased to $116.8 billion (preliminary) in the first quarter of 2017 from $114.0 billion (revised) in the fourth quarter of 2016. The deficit increased to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.4% in the fourth quarter.

The $2.8 billion increase in the current account deficit reflected a $5.3 billion increase in the deficit on goods and a $3.6 billion decrease in the surplus on primary income that were partly offset by a $5.8 billion decrease in the deficit on secondary income and a $0.3 billion increase in the surplus on services.

Global equity markets view Japan as a lone green buoy in a sea of red - Dow -0.16%, S&P 500 -0.44%, FTSE -0.68%, DAX -0.58%, CAC -0.32%, Nikkei +0.81%, Shanghai -0.14%.

Gold prices are currently down $2 or 0.2% at $1,243 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices have plunged 3.6% at $42.83 a barrel.

Current indicative rates:

NZDUSD       0.7245       0.2%
NZDEUR       0.6507       0.4%
NZDGBP       0.5734       1.0%
NZDJPY         80.71        0.1%
NZDAUD       0.9552       0.4%
NZDCAD       0.9603       0.5%
GBPNZD       1.7430      -0.1%

Upcoming Data releases (NZST):

  • 10:30am - AUD- MI Leading Index m/m

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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »

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Source: CoinDesk

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