The NZDUSD opens higher at 0.8425 this morning. Demand for safe-haven assets (USD, JPY, CHF) faded yesterday as Russian President Putin down played the prospect of a war in Ukraine, even as Russia test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a base near Ukraine. The USD weakened, and NZD rallied, after the release soft US economic data overnight. The ADP non-farm employment numbers (a precursor to the more influential non-farm payroll figures) printed below expectations (139k vs. 159k), and a service sector release was the worst read in 4 years ? both negatively impacted by the severe US winter weather? Closer to home, the Australian Q4 2013 GDP figures were surprisingly good. However, the NZDAUD has push higher towards 0.9400 nevertheless after some whippy price action. Both the European Central Bank and Bank of England have interest rate setting meetings tonight. Some analysts are picking some form of policy easing by the ECB to ward off deflationary risks, while the BoE is anticipated to maintain the status quo - their current rates are 0.25% & 0.50% respectively. There is no data on the domestic calendar today; however Australias Retail Sales & Trade Balance numbers may spice things up on their release at 1:30pm. Global equity markets were mixed on the day - Dow -0.3%, Nikkei +1.2%, Shanghai -0.9%, FTSE -0.7%, DAX -0.5% Gold prices gained 0.2% to USD$1339. Oil prices fell 1.0%.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:35:51 +0000
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