The NZDUSD opens higher at 0.8560 this morning.
The USD weakened across the board after data showed US Midwest business activity shrank unexpectedly – this follows disappointing US Q1 GDP figures released last week.
However, US home prices were a bright spot as data showed they rose at their fastest rate in almost 7-years in February.
Expectations are the US Federal Reserve will continue its bond-buying program as recent data will not be giving them much comfort that the US economic recovery is anywhere strong enough to remove stimulus.
Euro-zone inflation hit a 3-year low, unemployment rose to a record high, German’s retail sales for March fell unexpectedly, and Spain’s economy contracted for the 7-th consecutive quarter.
The EUR/USD rallied to a 2-week high on expectations the European Central Bank will cut rates by 0.25% to 0.50% at its rate setting meeting Thursday night.
Gold is trading at USD$1475 an ounce in choppy trading, while Copper prices fell more than 1%.other base metals also suffer losses.
Global equity markets were little changed on the day.
The NZD opens at 0.8560 USD, 0.8255 AUD, 0.6500 EUR, 0.5510 GBP, & 83.35 JPY.
There are no data releases on the domestic calendar today.
Chinese manufacturing data (PMI) hits the tapes at 1:00pm – this will be closely watched for indications of the strength on their economy.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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1 Comments
However, US home prices were a bright spot as data showed they rose at their fastest rate in almost 7-years in February.
As has been the case throughout the last year, the price increases have been driven in large part by rapid price growth in the bottom tier of the market. While prices overall in Phoenix have risen by 23.0 percent over the last year, prices for homes in the bottom third of the market have risen by 39.0 percent. There are many markets in the Phoenix area where the year-over-year increase has been more than 40 percent. Read article
Auckland house price rises seem positively pedestrian.
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