Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news the New Zealand dollar nudged towards 76 USc in overnight trade and the Australian dollar rose to near a 27 year high of 99.6 USc as talk swirled again that US money printing would weaken the American currency, sparking a fresh round in the 'Currency Wars'.
However, US jobs figures showing jobless claims hit a 3 month low in September helped bolster the US dollar slightly later in the evening, nudging the New Zealand and Australiand dollars back down again.
But the main focus is ahead tonight on the 'main' figures for US employment, which are the non-farm payrolls. If they are worse than expected then currency markets will lock in the prospects for a second round of quantitative easing or money printing from the US Federal Reserve as early as November 3.
Also markets are focused on key IMF meetings in Washington over the weekend where the turmoil on global currency markets will be the main topic of discussion. There has been plenty of chatter from the various country's leaders in the run-up to the meetings.
The key issue is whether China will agree to revalue the Yuan higher vs the US dollar and other currencies to reduce its trade surplus and capital surplus, thus removing the major imbalance in the global economy.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told European leaders last night the world needed to keep the yuan stable and he called on them not to join the chorus pressuring China to let the yuan rise.
He said Chinese factors were operating on thin margins and any appreciation would push many over the edge, forcing them to close and send migrant workers back from the factories on the coasts into the provinces.
Meanwhile, IMF MD Dominique Strauss Kahn said there was no mood for a new 'Plaza' accord to shift currency valuations, similar to the one in 1985 that saw the world's major central banks move to push the US dollar down vs the Yen.
However, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said there was a dangerous dynamic developing in global currency markets and he is continuing to push China to lift its currency.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Bank of China deputy governor Yi Gang agreed China needs to do its bit to help solve global imbalances, but that any rise in the Yuan would only be gradual.
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