The NZDUSD opens at 0.7308 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD is the strongest performing of the G10 currencies, pushing back above 73 US cents. The USD remains under pressure on the back of ongoing China US trade tensions and Friday’s disappointing non-farm-payroll result which has seen the Dollar Index (DXY) slip back below 90.
Overnight, Euro-zone investor confidence unexpectedly weakened with the Sentix index which had been expected to remain at 24.0 falling to 19.6 in April.
Germany’s exports declined for the second consecutive month in February down 3.2% m/m following on from January’s 0.4% fall. The 3.2% fall was the largest since August 2015, and surprised economists who had forecast a 0.2% increase.
Yesterday afternoons Japanese economic data disappointed with both consumer confidence and current account data releases failing to meet expectations. Consumer confidence which had been expected to rise to 44.6 remained at 44.3, while February’s current account surplus fell 28.7% on year.
This morning’s business confidence data release should prove to be the highlight of our trading day while overnight tonight investors will look to the US PPI data for direction.
Global equity markets have started the week on the front foot - Dow +1.44%, S&P 500 +1.58%, FTSE +0.15%, DAX +0.17%, CAC +0.10%, Nikkei +0.51%, Shanghai +0.23%.
Gold prices have edged higher, up 0.3% trading at $1,336 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices have surged higher, up 2.3% trading at $63.53 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
| NZDUSD | 0.7308 | 0.6% |
| NZDEUR | 0.5932 | 0.3% |
| NZDGBP | 0.5172 | 0.4% |
| NZDJPY | 78.05 | 0.6% |
| NZDAUD | 0.9495 | 0.3% |
| NZDCAD | 0.9288 | 0.0% |
| GBPNZD | 1.9335 | -0.4% |
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
- 10:00 - NZIER Business Confidence
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at xe money transfer in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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