The NZDUSD opens lower at 0.8575 this morning - a 3-week low.
The AUD was under selling pressure yesterday after the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia interest rate meeting minutes which said the current low rates (2.5%) are appropriate and will be in place for some time to come.
The RBA also mentioned inflation is not an issue, while retail sales and labour demand remain subdued. The AUDUSD fell sharply in response, dragging the NZD along for the ride.
Dairy prices fell another 1.8% at Fonterra's overnight Global Dairy Auction. This is the 7th consecutive decline and prices have now plunged 22.5% during the past 6-weeks. This is also weighing on the NZD.
Global equity markets were mostly lower on the day - Dow -0.7%, Nikkei +0.5%, Shanghai +0.0%, FTSE -0.6%, DAX -0.2%.
Gold prices increased by 0.2% to USD$1294. Oil prices gained 0.3%.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.8575
NZDEUR 0.6260
NZDGBP 0.5090
NZDJPY 86.85
NZDAUD 0.9265
NZDCAD 0.9345
Visitor Arrival & Credit Card Spending figures will be released today.
The US FOMC Meeting Minutes will be released early tomorrow morning.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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