The NZDUSD opens higher at 0.7880 this morning.
The USD fell overnight after a raft of disappointing US data raised speculation economic growth might be slowing in the final quarter of 2014.
US domestic spending grew less than forecast in October; US jobless claims jumped to their highest levels since September, and new orders for durable goods fell for the 2nd consecutive month, while US housing data weakened. This helped to push the NZDUSD to the overnight high of 0.7890 ahead of the US Thanksgiving holiday when US financial markets will be closed.
The AUDUSD hit a 4-year low of 0.8481 overnight before staging a limited recover on the back of the weak US data.
Continuing comments from Reserve Bank of Australia members stating the AUD is overvalued, underlying commodity weakness, and subdued domestic economic activity have all been weighing heavily on the AUD in recent months.
The NZDAUD jumped to 0.9235 overnight – a 4-month high.
Global equity markets were mixed on the day – Dow -0.0%, Nikkei -0.1%, Shanghai 1.4%, FTSE-0.0%, DAX +0.6%.
Gold prices rose marginally to USD$1,198. Oil prices fell 0.8% on the day.
The current indicative mid-rates are:
NZDUSD 0.7880
NZDEUR 0.6295
NZDGBP 0.4985
NZDJPY 92.80
NZDAUD 0.9220
NZDCAD 0.8822
NZ Trade Balance will be released at 10:45am this morning.
US Thanksgiving holiday begins tonight.
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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