The NZDUSD opens at 0.6770 (mid-rate) this morning.
Following yesterdays RBNZ speech which initially saw the NZD sold-off as a further rate cut was all but assured, further comments that inferred that the next cut should be the last as the outlook is now showing encouraging signs the NZD has rallied strongly overnight especially against the AUD where a four-month trading range of 0.8800-0.9200 has finally broken through the topside.
Following another night where U.S. economic data releases once again fell short of economist’s estimates the USD has fallen against all of its major competitors.
The U.S Retail Sales report showed retail sales inched up 01.% in September (exp 0.2%) while Augusts previously reported 0.2% increase was downwardly revised to flat.
The U.S. producer price index fell by 0.5% in September (exp -0.2%) with falling energy prices -5.9% the main catalyst.
The UK employment data sent mixed messages to the market with the headline unemployment rate falling from 5.5% to 5.4% while the number of people claiming unemployment benefit increased by 4,600 from August (exp 2,200).
Global equity markets are a sea of red - Dow -1.07%, S&P 500 –0.17%, FTSE -1.15%, DAX -1.17%, CAC -0.74%, Nikkei -1.89%, Shanghai -0.93%.
Gold prices have spiked higher up $19 to $1187 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is little changed currently trading at $46.65 a barrel.
Indicative mid-rate pricing:
NZDUSD 0.6770 1.4%
NZDEUR 0.5906 0.8%
NZDGBP 0.4377 0.1%
NZDJPY 80.51 0.6%
NZDAUD 0.9310 1.4%
NZDCAD 0.8766 1.0%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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