The NZDUSD opens at 0.6726 (mid-rate) this morning.
Currency markets as expected, have been very subdued over the Easter holiday weekend with the NZDUSD trading between 0.6670 and 0.6735.
The long weekends U.S. data releases were slightly ahead of economist’s estimates with pending home sales for the month of February increasing by 3.5% to 109.1 (expected +1.5%) from a downwardly revised 105.4 in January.
Personal income in the U.S. was also slightly better than expected rising by 0.2% in February (expected +0.1%) after climbing 0.5% in January.
In the absence of any notable data releases on the domestic front this week, investors will be focused on the U.S. employment reports at the end of the week and Fed Chair Yellen’s speech on "Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy" at the Economic Club of New York luncheon overnight.
U.S and Asian equity markets have started the week mixed - Dow +0.34%, S&P 500 +0.21%, FTSE Closed, DAX Closed, CAC Closed, Nikkei +0.77%, Shanghai -0.73%.
Gold prices are currently trading at $1218 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is back below $40 a barrel currently trading at $39.32 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6726
NZDEUR 0.6000
NZDGBP 0.4717
NZDJPY 76.25
NZDAUD 0.8920
NZDCAD 0.8661
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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