The NZDUSD opens at 0.7515 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD has made steady gains against all its trading partners over the past 24hrs with the NZDUSD breaking up through 0.75, a level last reached in May 2015.
The USD is losing ground following this morning’s Federal Reserve monetary policy statement. As widely expected the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at 1.00% to 1.25% but the accompanying statement in which the Fed stated that that risks to the economic outlook appear “roughly balanced,” was somewhat over shadowed by the comment that inflation is expected to stay “somewhat below” 2% in the near-term. Although the Fed still plans to raise interest rates again this year and reiterated that they intend to unwind the balance sheet "relatively soon" their failure to offer a specific timeline has investors all but ruling out the chance of a further hike at their September meeting.
Earlier this morning US new home sales during the month of June increased in line with expectations, with sales up 0.8% to 610k.
The UK economy expanded in line with forecasts with the Office for National Statistics reporting Q2 GDP rose by 0.3% after recording a 0.2% increase in Q1.
Global equity markets have turned positive - Dow +0.46%, S&P 500 +0.09%, FTSE +0.24%, DAX +0.33%, CAC +0.56%, Nikkei +0.48%, Shanghai +0.12%.
Gold prices have edged higher, up 0.3% trading at $1,254 an ounce .WTI Crude Oil prices continue to climb, up 1.6% at $46.64 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.7515 1.3%
NZDEUR 0.6402 0.6%
NZDGBP 0.5727 0.7%
NZDJPY 83.49 0.7%
NZDAUD 0.9387 0.5%
NZDCAD 0.9346 0.8%
GBPNZD 1.7461 -0.7%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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