The NZDUSD opens at 0.6451 (mid-rate) this morning.
Comments from the European Commission warning that Italy's budget plans were a "source of serious concern," is weighing on the EUR and sparked a sharp sell-off in equities. In a letter sent by the Commission to Italian Economy Minister Tria, Italian authorities have been called upon “to ensure that the budget will be in compliance with the common fiscal rules and look forward to seeing the details of the measures."
Yield on the 10-year Italian government bond which increases in line with the risk associated with investing in them is currently trading at a new 5-year high of 3.58% with Greece the only EU member with a higher yield on the 10-year bond.
The British pound has given back some of its recent gains amid concerns that the UK and the European Union are struggling to reach an agreement on the crucial Irish boarder deal. With the EU summit on 18 October fast approaching both parties are yet to agree on a backstop agreement let alone a permanent solution.
Overnight data from Destatis showed Germany's industrial production unexpectedly declined for the third consecutive month in August. Economists who were expecting production to increase by 0.5% were surprised with the report showing another 0.3% decrease following on from July’s 1.3% fall.
The only data of note during our trading will be this afternoon’s Australian NAB business confidence number due for release at 13:30.
Global Equity markets have fallen sharply, - Dow -0.54%, S&P 500 -0.60%, FTSE -1.16%, DAX -1.36%, CAC -1.10%, Nikkei -0.80%, Shanghai -3.72%.
Gold prices are down 1.4% overnight trading at $1,185 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices have inched down 0.3% trading at $73.84 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
| NZDUSD | 0.6451 | 0.1% |
| NZDEUR | 0.5613 | 0.4% |
| NZDGBP | 0.4927 | 0.4% |
| NZDJPY | 72.86 | -0.6% |
| NZDAUD | 0.9113 | -0.1% |
| NZDCAD | 0.8358 | 0.1% |
| GBPNZD | 2.0296 | -0.4% |
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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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