The NZDUSD opens lower at 0.6858 this morning.
The USD strengthened overnight after the US House of Representatives passed a comprehensive package of tax cuts for individuals, families and companies.
The USD also benefited from comments from the US Fed’s Kaplan who said the US economy is at or near full employment, inflation is still lagging but building, and he is ‘actively thinking’ about further removing monetary policy accommodation. Overnight US economic data was solid.
Bank of England Governor Carney said the Brexit vote has harmed the UK economy. Carney stated “we have gone from the fastest growing economy in the G& to one of the slowest. Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein suggested a 2nd referendum on Brexit to make sure the consensus still there. The GBP performed well nevertheless.
Closer to home, yesterday’s Australian employment data was mixed.
Global equity markets were higher on the day – Dow +0.9%, S&P500, FTSE +0.2%, DAX +0.6%, CAC +0.7%, Nikkei +1.5%, Shanghai -0.1%.
Gold prices is little changed at USD$1,277.61 an ounce. Oil prices (WTI) fell marginally to USD$55.24 per barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.6855 -0.3%
NZDEUR 0.5828 0.1%
NZDGBP 0.5200 -0.4%
NZDJPY 77.49 -0.3%
NZDAUD 0.9034 -0.3%
NZDCAD 0.8738 -0.5%
GBPNZD 1.9225 0.4%
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
- 10:30 Business NZ Manufacturing Index
- 10:45 NZ PPI (Producer Price Index)
- Overnight, ECB President Draghi speaks and US housing data is released
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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