By Dan Bell
The NZD/USD opens around 0.8240 this morning after trading as low as 0.8175 and as high as 0.8270 overnight.
Global stocks and commodities had a positive night with European and US equity markets finishing up on the day- the S&P 500 closed up 0.94% while most European bourses finished up 1-2% on the day. The CRB Commodities Index was up 0.50%, with gold up 1.3% and silver gaining 2%.
While European debt concerns remain no new negative news has seen an improvement in sentiment overnight.
The AUD/USD continues to struggle trading to lows around 1.0250 again overnight which had NZD/AUD make a high of 0.80. More market commentators in Australia are calling for the RBA cut interest rates.
The NZD opens relatively unchanged against the EUR at 0.6020 and higher against GBP at 0.5220 and JPY at 63.30.
Interesting to note- the current dividend payout on US stocks is exceeding the return (yield) on bonds for only the second time since the 1950’s. The previous time this happened was around the 1st Q of 2009.
No local data today. From Australia we get Westpac Consumer Sentiment at 12:30.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here
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