The NZDUSD opens at .6672 this morning.
The NZD has lost ground overnight after it rallied over .6700 post the RBNZ Governor Wheeler’s speech yesterday.
The market had expected a more pessimistic tone with some forecasters expecting the RBNZ to cut the OCR aggressively this year.
However his comment that “rate cuts are likely needed to spur economic growth and generate inflation” was hardly a shock suggesting the RBNZ may only make two 25 basis point cuts by December.
This morning the USD has taken back the ascendancy after The US Federal Reserve confirmed it would likely increase interest rates when it sees “some further improvement in the labour market”. The market still expects the Fed to rates interest rates either September or December this year.
After falling 20% so far this month, WTI Crude Oil recovered as much as 2.5% overnight after rumours of Saudi Arabia cutting back on production later in the year. Gold is little changed at $1096 an ounce.
Global equity markets are higher overall: Dow +.67%, S&P 500 +.72%, FTSE +1.16%, DAX +.34%, CAC +.81%Nikkei -0.13%, Shanghai +3.33%.
NZDUSD 0.6672 -0.2%
NZDEUR 0.6075 0.4%
NZDGBP 0.4278 -0.1%
NZDJPY 82.75 0.2%
NZDAUD 0.9142 0.2%
NZDCAD 0.8639 -0.1%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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