sign up log in
Want to go ad-free? Find out how, here.

The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Currencies
The Opening Bell: Where currencies start on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

By Dan Bell

The NZD/USD opens at 0.8270 this morning after hitting a high of 0.8342 overnight and looks vulnerable to further downside.

Moody’s cut the credit ratings of 6 euro zone economies yesterday morning and also downgraded the outlook for the UK, Austria and France which weighed on risk appetite.

Greek debt concerns continue. Apparently they still need to come up with another 323 million euros in specific budget cuts. Euro zone finance ministers have delayed their scheduled meeting, otping for a teleconference instead to discuss outstanding issues.

The AUD/USD opens at 1.0645-2 cents off recent 6 month highs last week. The EUR/USD is sitting around 1.31 and also looks vulnerable to further weakness. 

Equities fell after U.S. Retail Sales came in weaker than expected at + 0.4% for January when the market had been expecting +0.7%. Excluding autos, gasoline and building materials the number was +0.7% which suggests the US economy still has some good momentum.

The US Dollar surged more than 1% against the Japanese Yen after the Bank of Japan boosted its asset-buying program yesterday and announced it will ‘print’ 10 Trillion Yen to buy Long Term Japanese Government Bonds.

The NZD opens at 0.7775 AUD, 0.6320 EUR, 0.5280 GBP and 65.0 JPY.

Q4 NZ Retail Sales are released at 10:45 this morning. From Australia we get Consumer Sentiment at 12:30pm.

-------------

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

No chart with that title exists.

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.