Equity markets continue to be on a wild ride of late; China growth has slowed for November; NZD has made a good start to the week against the USD; NZD continues to outperform the AUD

NZD/USD

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) has made a good start to the week against the US Dollar (USD) after retracing off its low of 0.6840 Monday. A mild risk on theme saw the kiwi improve to 0.6900 early Tuesday with equities closing in the black after being down for most of the Monday sessions. We expect the NZD may struggle to push higher in this environment but it’s been reasonably resilient. Non Farm payroll numbers disappointed coming in at 155,000 instead of the 200,000 sending markets lower and putting USD on notice. US Core CPI and Retail Sales print later in the week. We suggest a retest of 0.6900 levels if risk improves.

NZD/AUD (AUD/NZD)

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) continues to outperform the Aussie Dollar (AUD) pushing through resistance last week of 0.9440 (1.0590) as it travelled to a new multi month high of 0.9587 (1.0430) Tuesday. In the current risk off tone the kiwi seems to be holding up better than the Aussie dollar, we suspect the pair may hold current levels for a few days with only Australian consumer sentiment to print tonight which could impact. A retest of 0.9645 (1.0370) is unlikely but unless we see a fundamental change in the cross we can’t see it retreating much lower in the coming days.

NZD/GBP (GBP/NZD)

With further Brexit turmoil the British Pound (GBP) has plunged to new lows overnight in the wake of tomorrow’s parliamentary vote possibly to be delayed until January. The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) has regained momentum from 0.5400 (1.8530) to travel to 0.5500 (1.8215). The Pound is struggling to catch a break with Manufacturing figures coming in weak adding to the demise. It’s a long road back to 0.5000 (2.000) from here, price action could well continue to 0.5750 (1.7400) based on Brexit.

 NZD/CAD

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) has reached fresh highs against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) surpassing the 21 June 2018 high to reach 0.9255 during early Friday trading. Canadian unemployment figures release well up on expectations at 94,100 compared to 10,500 taking the pair off the high to 0.9120 at the close of the week. The official Unemployment rate dropped from 5.8% to 5.6% giving the CAD a much deserved break. However Monday’s Crude price has dropped a further 1.5% to 51.60 putting pressure back on the CAD. This week is a quiet week on the economic docket with no tier one data to release.

NZD/EURO (EURO/NZD)

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Euro (EUR) pair retraced off its high of 0.6120 (1.6340) mid last week to close around the 0.6025 (1.6600) level as risk aversion hit market sentiment. It’s a sill a little to early to say if the bullish run from 0.5585 (1.7900) has ended, certainly if we see a break back below 0.5960 (1.6780) this will confirm further downside bias. Italian Budget concerns still weigh on the EUR ticking away in the background but for now it’s all about Brexit and the EU.  The ECB announce their cash rate Friday morning which will stay at 0.0% with the statement to follow holding much market focus.

NZD/YEN

Risk averse market conditions saw the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) retreated back to a low of 77.20 Friday as investors sought the safer Japanese Yen (JPY). A quiet week for data with only Japanese Cash Earnings releasing of note with the figure surprising to the upside at 1.5% after 1.0% was forecast. Japanese quarterly GDP received a little attention Monday morning after figures showed a decrease to -0.6% as opposed to -0.5% confirming a slowdown in the Japanese economy. This week most of the focus will be on larger themes such as Brexit and trade tariff tensions to drive price.

AUD/USD

The Australian Dollar (AUD) is down on risk aversion against the US Dollar (USD) to a three week low of 0.7180. Dovish comments from Fed saw investors exit the big dollar late in the week as risks of not hiking rates in 2019 surfaced. Aussie data has printed down on expectation over the past week which has led to the sell off. Non Farm payroll printed lower than forecast Friday sending equities down to fresh lows and risk associated products with it. Market focus is now firmly on US CPI and Retail Sales printing later in the week. Support at 0.7160 should hold depending on further trade tariff narrative.

AUD/GBP (GBP/AUD) 

After reclaiming 0.5650 (1.7700) levels last week the British Pound has given back gains Tuesday. Against the Australian Dollar (AUD) price reached 0.5740 (1.7415) overnight as Theresa May announced tomorrow’s vote would be delayed to late January. UK Manufacturing added to the sharp fall away with figures way down at -0.9% based on 0.0% predicted showing a decrease in production output. The Pound is still running a dangerous path with very little certainty offered at the moment, a retest of last week’s high of 1.7200 looks a high probability.

AUD/EURO (EURO/AUD)

While the Australian Dollar (AUD) has been wrestling with risk off flows last week poor data has also contributed to its demise against the Euro (EUR). The pair was back at the five week low of 0.6290 (1.5900) Friday retracing weeks of gains. RBA’ Kent said the next policy shift would more than likely be a rate hike but some time away with global pressures likely to hinder the Aussie for some time yet. The move to 0.6300 (1.5870) is a 50% retracement of a larger move suggesting a pull back towards 0.6450 (1.5500) is coming. The ECB announce their cash rate Friday morning which will stay at 0.0% with the statement to follow holding much market focus as we may learn how Brexit is affecting the EU and future policy.

AUD/YEN

The Australian Dollar (AUD) had a poor week as data with GDP leading the decline. The Japanese Yen (JPY) outperformed the Aussie climbing 1.4% retracing the pair to 81.00 from the 83.80 weekly open after markets turned risk averse. The RBA has left the cash rate unchanged as widely expected siting a slowdown in global trade stemming from ongoing trade tensions, confirming the rate would remain at 1.50% for a long period. Monday’s overnight sessions have seen an improvement in the AUD back at 81.40 after Japanese GDP underwhelmed. Australian House Price Index data prints today and holds interest based on recent declines in the Australian housing market and its effect on the economy overall.

AUD/CAD

It was a nice comeback last week by the Canadian Dollar (CAD) as it received multiple boosts against the Australian Dollar (AUD) closing the week at 0.9580 trading from 0.9770. CAD unemployment was lower at 5.6% from the 5.8% expected and the economy added 94,100 jobs to in November to the workforce significantly higher than the 10,500 expected. We have seen a slight reversal in price back towards 0.9640 during Monday’s overnight trading sessions as Crude Oil has again slumped 1.5% to 51.85 putting pressure on the CAD. We suggest a continuation of the bullish move from early October at 0.9180 should continue and regain the highs around 0.9750.

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Market commentary:

Equity markets continue to be on a wild ride of late with realities of ongoing trade tariffs and the Fed backing down from its recent staunch angle on its tightening bias. With a fair amount of uncertainty still in the air US stocks have been volatile. The S&P was down 62 points Friday -2.3% to 2633, the Nasdaq fell 219 points over 3.0% to 6969 while the DOW closed down 558 points- 2.25% to 24,284. The S&P has been noted as registering declines of over 2% more than 16 times in 2018 compared to nil in the 2017 year. With equities continuing to fall investors are becoming increasingly anxious of prospects of a recession in the developed countries. The current pattern of such an event happening does not quit fit with times gone by of economic trends to suggest this. In the group of the 7 biggest economies Germany, Italy and Japan have all experienced slower economic indicators over the last three months signalling weaker global demand. Crude oil prices have fallen sharply showing a weaker global overall demand and oversupply problem. The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) chief economist Maurice Obstfeld is retiring at the end of the year, offering up comments prior to his departure warning that global growth is slowing and the US economy won’t escape the downdraft. He described global growth as "steady or plateauing". China growth has slowed for November as the effects of the tariff war take hold with the effects oi shipping front-loading. Total exports grew by only 5.4% from the previous year coming off a 15.6% increase for October with the result expected to be somewhere around 10.0% China's total trade surplus has grown to 44.7B from 34B in October. The addition of 155,000 jobs to the US employment market was significantly down on the 200,000 expectations Friday adding further doubts that the Fed will stick to its three rates hikes in 2019. Unemployment remained the same at 3.7%. The result dragged associated risk currencies lower, the kiwi back in the low 0.68's but holding tough compared to other currencies- the Australian Dollar losing 1.4% against the big dollar.

Australia

The Australian economy only grew by a poor 0.3% after missing forecast for an increase of 0.6%. This was seen as an unusually large blunder with the weakest quarterly expansion since 2016. Year on year figures have slowed to just 2.8% well below the 3.3% speed predicted. This will now cast doubts over any such increases in the official cash rates over 2019. The official Cash rate was announced unchanged at 1.50% extending the period of no change since August 2016. Christopher Kent the assistant governor of the RBA spoke Monday saying progress was being made on lowering the unemployment and rising inflation. Wage growth has picked up but the next move could be up or down with the central bank forecast remaining positive. Tightening credit on lending could be detrimental with the banks suggesting smaller businesses could suffer getting the required funding as this has a large flow on effect to overall growth and business confidence. Economic data is limited to House Price Index figures which are expected to be -1.5% - most of the result will be already prices into currencies but I suspect we should see the AUD deteriorate slightly. Consumer Confidence prints Friday.

New Zealand

The new Zealand Dollar endures a mixed bag last week, down 1% against the Japanese Yen and a hefty 1.31% versus the Australian Dollar. The initial trade truce between Trump and Xi Jinging seemed to move negotiations in the right direction but has since taken a turn for the worst with a fresh hard line by Trump making the situation not so rosy. Markets became risk averse and no so upbeat retracing all of last week’s gains against the greenback. Non Farm Payroll printed down on the 200,000 job numbers expected to be included to the US job market at 150,000 surprising markets and causing nervous concerns with equity markets falling. Last week’s official change in the (GDT) Global Dairy Trade- price index represented a lift to prices by 2.2%, with whole milk powder coming in at 2.5%. This is the first increase in overall prices since May with prices lifting off two year lows. Fonterra could adjust its forecast farmgate milk solid price from $6.75 to $6.00 to $6.30. It’s a quiet week on the NZ calendar with only tier two NZ Manufacturing data out Friday.

United States

US Jobs data printed softer than markets were expecting at 155,000 down from the 200,000 increase to US employment Friday crashing equity markets and putting risk trades on notice. After rallying strong in the last week of November equities have reversed huge. The S&P has dropped nearly 5% the biggest weekly fall since March 2018. 10 year treasury yields a global benchmark for growth slipped for the fifth consecutive week to 2.8% the August low and the longest run since April. The greenback fell against most of its rivals under performing amid uncertainty. A week after President Trump and XI Jinping made a truce with deal in Argentina details on the deal have become hazy with tougher negotiations and shifting deadlines. The two sides agreed on a negotiating period of 90 days in which the 200B of Chinese goods would not rise to 25% as they planned to do on 1 January 2019. In the terms of what we understand - China agreed to buy large volumes of goods and services including soybean and natural gas purchases over the next few weeks with China considering to lower tariffs on US Automobile manufacturers. These purchases would serve as a good will down payment on future negotiations. This week on the docket we have monthly CPI and Retail Sales.

Europe

The Euro remarkably outperformed all other main currencies last week except the JPY climbing to nearly 2.0% against the struggling Aussie Dollar and gaining 1.3% against the US Dollar. US Dollar struggled leading into the close with poor Non Farm Payroll figures releasing creating Dollar weakness pushing the Euro to 1.1450 late in the NY session. Italian  Budget narrative continued over the weekend with the EU reporting they may grant the Italians further time. The EU may give the Italians an additional 6 months to comply with the budget constraints with the ruling League and Five Star parties unwilling to reduce the budget from the 2.1% on annual economic output for 2019. The Italian government is ready to lower it to 2.1% but the EU wants the figure to be closer to 1.9%. Friday we have the ECB refinancing rate which is not expected to shift from the historical low of 0.0%. Recently the ECB has had cause for concern with worrying Brexit signs and the US trade war but these factors are not enough to change the current monetary policy direction.

United Kingdom

The British Pound remains choppy around the 1.2750 area as Brexit headlines still impacting price. Theresa May is still trying to win over crucial Tory MPs before they decide whether to proceed with voting this Tuesday- Wednesday NZT. With less than 48 hours before voting takes place not many of the over 100 plus who have said they will oppose the deal have shown any sign on changing their minds. UK could be damaged for a long time to come if the division over Brexit continues. At this point there is no plan B on the cards if the Brexit deal fails, as there is no consensus in parliament for any other options. This would bring about carnage with several ministerial resignations. Economic data this week won’t have much of an impact of the Pound with monthly GDP and later unemployment to print. The Pound could sustain a fair amount of downside play this week if things don’t work out with Brexit as we anticipate. In the latest news Prime Minister May confirms to media that tomorrow’s vote will be delayed to be as late as 21st of January 2019.

Japan

The Japanese Yen outperformed over the week gaining to a five week level of 112.20 against the greenback. Risk sentiment deteriorated over the week after Trump's comments regarding the truce with China.  Comments to come out of last weekend’s G20 from Trump suggested a 3 month truce with further negotiating to take place but were dispelled when the president changed his tune and went on the defensive taking on a hard line approach to protecting US assets. When we look at the decline of equity markets and a lowering US 10 year Bond curve we suggest the price action moves below 113.00 seems modest. Further downside momentum is expected if equities remain under pressure. The ongoing trade war uncertainty should also give the JPY a further boost. third quarter GDP and October trade data is expected to disappoint markets. A retest of 111.00 looks possible this week.

Canada

Canadian unemployment shifted off the 5.8% markets were anticipating Friday to 5.6% highlighting more jobs were added to the Canadian job market for November. The record 5.6% should improve the odds of a hike in the Canadian cash rate by the Bank of Canada in January 2019 with improving wage growth. The record 94,000 positions that were added were mostly full time with gains fairly widespread across the different business sectors. OPEC -The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met last week in Vienna agreeing on the size of oil production cuts. The 1.2M barrels per day starting in January with a review in April. This comprises of 800k barrels per day by OPEC and the balance will be met by other OPEC countries. The cut is bigger than we were expecting with Iran holding up the process. The non OPEC volume is only likely to have small effects to the crude oil price. Crude jumped to 52.50 after the news strengthening the CAD. However the Bank of Canada will be closely watching progress on price up to the net BoC rate announcement on 9th January 2019. It could be a quiet week for the CAD with no significant data to publish.

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