HiFX Morning Update, August 3

HiFX Morning Update, August 3

NZDUSD 0.6585 -0.2%
NZDEUR 0.6012 -0.5%
NZDGBP 0.4222 -0.1%
NZDJPY 81.75 -0.3%
NZDAUD 0.9018 -0.4%
NZDCAD 0.8642 0.8%

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6585 (mid-rate) this morning.

In what was a choppy end to the month trading session the NZDUSD which traded as low as 0.6535 rallied to a high of 0.6670 before settling to close out the month at 0.6585. The catalyst for the spike was a disappointing US wage inflation report. The ECI report, rose only 0.2% in Q2 (a record low), disappointing the consensus at 0.6% and weaker than Q1’s 0.7%.

Friday’s other U.S. data releases were mixed with the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for July downwardly revised to 93.1 from the mid-month reading of 93.3. (exp 94.1), while the Chicago Business Barometer jumped to 54.7 in July from 49.4 in June, (a reading above 50 indicates growth in regional business activity.)

The Euro-zone unemployment rate and Inflation for the month of July remained steady, with the jobless rate remaining at 11.1%, unchanged from May, while inflation is still sitting at 0.2% well below the ECB’s target rate of 2%.

The key domestic data releases for the NZD$ this week will be Wednesday’s Fonterra auction and employment data release and Fridays Fonterra payout forecast.

Global equity markets closed out the week mixed - Dow -0.32%, S&P 500 -0.23%, FTSE +0.41%, DAX +0.46%, CAC +0.72%, Nikkei +0.30%, Shanghai -1.13%.

Gold prices gained $8 on Friday but still closed out the month of July down 6.5% at $1095.40, WTI Crude Oil shed 2.89%% on Friday closing out the month down 21% at $47.12 a barrel.

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