The Opening Bell: Where currencies start for Thursday, February 13, 2014

By Dan Bell

The NZDUSD opens at 0.8315 this morning.

The NZDUSD surged near a 1-month high of 0.8365 overnight, spurred on by surprisingly strong Chinese trade data. The AUDUSD raced higher on the back on the China data, dragging NZDUSD along for the ride.

Chinese imports in January jumped by 10% from a year ago as they purchased record amounts of iron ore, oil, and copper. Exports increased by 10.6% over the same period, however there was a healthy level of scepticism about the data, especially since Taiwan and South Korea both saw their export sales slump in January.

The NZD could not sustain the initial upwards momentum, and fell steadily across the board overnight.

Gold prices traded to a 3-month high of USD$1296 as some investors moved back into the precious metal.

A European Central Bank official was reported as saying the ECB is seriously considering negative interest rates - EURUSD fell in response. The GBPUSD rose to a 2-week high after the Bank of England raised growth forecasts and hinted they may increase interest rates next year.

Global equity markets were generally higher on the day - Dow -0.1%, Nikkei +0.6%, Shanghai +0.3%, FTSE +0.0%, DAX +0.7%

The Gold Price gained 0.3% to USD$1294 an ounce. Oil prices rose 0.1%.

The NZD opens at 0.8315 USD, 0.9210 AUD, 0.9145 CAD, 0.6115 EUR, 0.5015 GBP, & 85.20 JPY.

Business NZ Manufacturing Index will be released at 10:30am today.

The volatile Australian Employment Data hit the tapes at 1:30pm, followed by Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor speaking at 2:25pm.

Tonight brings US Retail Sales, Weekly Unemployment Claims, and Fed Chairman Yellen continues her Semiannual Monetary Policy Report testimony combine with a question & answer session.

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