The NZDUSD opens at 0.6801 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD was steady overnight hovering around the 0.68 cent mark with the exception of the JPY which strengthened almost 1% against the Kiwi on the improved Consumer sentiment result for May.
At last night’s ECB meeting, which was held in Vienna, the Governing Council decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively.
Private sector employment in the U.S. increased roughly in line with economist estimates in the month of May. The report said private sector employment rose by 173,000 jobs in May after climbing by an upwardly revised 166,000 jobs in April.
U.S. initial jobless claims edged down to 267,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 268,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 270,000.
Eurozone producer prices dropped unexpectedly in April on falling energy prices. Producer prices dropped 0.3% in April from March, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise. Prices had increased 0.3% in March.
Japan's consumer sentiment improved unexpectedly in May. The index printed at 40.9 ahead of 40.4 expected and 40.8 in April.
Tonight’s data releases include the UK services PMI, and for the U.S. Non-Farm Employment Change, Unemployment rate, Trade Balance and Average Hourly Earnings.
Monday is Queen’s Birthday in NZ with Australia celebrating Queen’s Birthday the following Monday.
Global equity markets are mixed: Dow +0.11%, S&P 500 +0.11%, FTSE -0.10%, DAX +0.03%, CAC -0.21%, Nikkei -2.32%, Shanghai 0.40%.
Gold prices are steady currently trading at $1211 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is down 0.3% over the past 24hrs currently trading at $48.98 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.801 -0.2%
NZDEUR 0.6098 0.1%
NZDGBP 0.4712 -0.4%
NZDJPY 74.02 -0.
NZDAUD 0.9417 0.2%
NZDCAD 0.8915 0.1%
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
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1:00 - ANZ Commodity Prices m/m
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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