The NZDUSD opens at 0.7022 (mid-rate) this morning.
The NZD is lower against all of its major trading partners overnight except the AUD. The Kiwi starts the week down 1.4% from Friday’s close of 0.7125 and within striking distance of testing 0.7000 for the first time since July 26.
Fed Chair Yellen in written testimony to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, stated that the decision to wait for further evidence before raising interest rates did not reflect a lack of confidence in the economy.
According to Yellen, the committee must remain forward looking and delaying increases in the Federal Funds rate for too long could end up having to tighten policy relatively abruptly to keep the economy from overshooting both of the longer-term policy goals.
The fewest Americans since 1973 filed for unemployment benefits last week, a sign that the U.S. labour market is getting tighter. Jobless claims dropped by 19,000 to 235,000 in the week ended Nov. 12
U.S. new-home construction jumped to a nine-year high in October as an outsized advance in the number of apartment projects accompanied a strong pickup for single-family housing. Residential starts surged 25.5% to a 1.32 million annualized rate, the fastest since August 2007 and exceeded market expectations.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4% in October on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing index decreased from a reading of 9.7 in October to 7.6 this month
Global equity markets are higher - Dow +0.05%, S&P 500 +0.44%, FTSE +0.67%, DAX +0.20%, CAC +0.59%, Nikkei +0.00%, Shanghai +0.11%.
Gold prices are down 0.8% or $10 at $1,217 an ounce WTI Crude Oil is up 0.2% overnight currently trading at $45.73 a barrel.
Current indicative rates:
NZDUSD 0.7022 -0.7%
NZDEUR 0.6608 -0.3%
NZDGBP 0.5652 -0.6%
NZDJPY 77.22 -0.1%
NZDAUD 0.9477 0.2%
NZDCAD 0.9480 -0.2%
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Dan Bell is the senior currency strategist at HiFX in Auckland. You can contact him here »
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