By Dan Bell
The NZD/USD opens at 0.8130/0.8150 this morning after trading in a tight 50 point range over the last 24 hours.
The US Central Bank announced monetary policy this morning. No change to current policy settings - reaffirmed their near zero rate bias thru late-2014 - but raised their forecast for the US economy slightly and lowered their jobless rate forecast.
In a press conference following the announcement Chairman Ben Bernanke commented that the Fed would be prepared to add more stimulus if the economy needs it - which has given QE addicts a whiff of hope and put the US Dollar under pressure.
U.S. stocks rose after Quarterly profit at Apple Inc almost doubled-the stock jumped 9% to $610.55 and recorded its biggest one-day percentage gain since November 2008.
The NZD opens at current indicative levels against the major cross rates - 0.6150 EUR, 66.20 JPY, 0.5035 GBP and 0.7856 AUD.
The RBNZ is the focus this morning. No change to the OCR at 2.5% but watch the comments. A more downbeat (dovish) assessment of the economy should see the NZD under pressure.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here
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