Here's my summary of the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am, including news that equities continued their march higher to start the week, shrugging off weakness in European markets and downbeat economic data in China.
The S&P500 is within reach of its all-time 2007 high in mid-day trade, and the Dow is at another all-time record.
In Europe, French industrial production fell more than expected in January as Europe’s second-largest economy teetered on the brink of its third recession in four years.
But Germany shows some spark; German imports rebounded strongly in January, up 3.3%, suggesting that domestic demand in the country may be set to recover after their Q4 downturn. And German exports also rose on demand from the US and China.
Tensions in Korea need to be kept in mind. North Korea cut off a phone hot line to the South and "declared invalid" the War armistice as the South and the US armies began a second phase of their annual joint winter exercises.
Today we are expecting to get the REINZ results for February. Even more important though is the weather outlook, and the latest forecast has pushed back the prospect of rain at the weekend even further.
The kiwi dollar starts the week slightly lower against most currencies at 82.5 USc, at 80.5 AUc, and the TWI is at 76.2.
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