The NZDUSD opens at 0.7039 (mid-rate) this morning.
As widely expected the Federal Reserve voted against raising interest rates this morning, signalling out May’s shocking jobs report and growing anxiety among investors that the U.K. might leave the European Union as the main factors in this decision.
"The pace of improvement in the labour market has slowed while growth in economic activity appears to have picked up," the Fed said. In the press conference after the Fed released its statement, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that "vulnerabilities in the global economy remain, and that Fed policymakers saw the potential “Brexit” as "one of the factors that factored into today’s decision."
Overnight the U.K employment report showed the U.K. unemployment rate fell to its lowest since October 2005, and now sits at 5%. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits decreased slightly by 400 from April, economists had expected a flat result.
In the latest GDT auction International milk prices remained unchanged with an average selling price of $2,339 per tonne, with volume falling 4% from the previous auction.
The main driver for the NZD today will be this morning’s quarterly GDP data release due out at 10:45, the current expectation is for 0.5% growth.
Global equity markets turn positive - Dow +0.23%, S&P 500 +0.41%, FTSE +0.73%, DAX +0.92%, CAC +1.00%, Nikkei +0.38%, Shanghai +1.58%.
Gold prices continue to edge higher up another 0.5% overnight, currently trading at $1,290 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil is down 1.4% at $47.69 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.7039 0.5%
NZDEUR 0.6253 0.1%
NZDGBP 0.4965 0.0%
NZDJPY 74.65 0.5%
NZDAUD 0.9501 -0.1%
NZDCAD 0.9090 1.1%
Upcoming Data releases (NZST):
- 10:45 - GDP q/q
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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