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The Opening Bell: Where currencies start for Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Currencies
The Opening Bell: Where currencies start for Wednesday, August 14, 2013

By Dan Bell

The NZDUSD opens lower at 0.7965 this morning.

The USD strengthened overnight, and hit 1-week highs against the EUR & JPY, as US Retail Sales figures exceeded expectations. These suggest the US economy could be gathering some momentum, which will encourage the US Federal Reserve to begin tapering its huge USD85 billion per month bond-buying program. The NZDUSD fell to a 1-week low of 0.7936.

German analyst and investor sentiment climbed more than expected in August, which indicates the key economy in Europe is gradually improving.

Australia Business Confidence numbers disappointed yesterday - they showed conditions are deteriorating.

Global equity markets gained across the board – DOW +0.2%, Nikkei +2.6%, Shanghai +0.3%, DAX +0.7%, FTSE 0.6%

The Gold Price fell 1% to USD$1321 an ounce. Oil gained 0.5%, Iron Ore hit a 5-month high, and Copper prices rose to the best level seen in 9-weeks.

The NZD opens at 0.7965 USD, 0.8740 AUD, 0.6005 EUR, 0.5155GBP, & 78.25 JPY.

NZ quarterly Retail Sales figures will be released at 10:45am. The market currently expects the headline figure to gain 1.4%, and +1.3% in the ‘core’ numbers.

Australian Consumer Sentiment & Wage Price Index hit the tapes this afternoon.

Bank of England interest rate announcement, Euro-zone GDP numbers, and US Producer Price Index will all be released tonight.

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

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