HiFX Morning Update - January 11, 2011

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6550 (mid-rate) this morning.

The NZD has continued its poor start to the new year in a risk-off environment with investors concerned about China and the health of the global economy. The NZD has lost 3 cents against the greenback, since the markets reopened last Monday.

The U.S. non-farm payrolls printed well ahead of economists estimates with 292k jobs created in December (exp 200k) while the unemployment rate remained at 5% (seven year lows).

Led by China, the world’s major indexes posted significant losses last week with the FTSE down 5.3%, the Dow and S&P falling 6.2% and 6% respectively and the Nasdaq plummeting 7.3%

European and U.S. equity markets closed out the week sharply lower - Dow -1.02%, S&P 500 -1.08%, FTSE -0.7%, DAX -1.31%, CAC -1.59%, Nikkei -0.39%, Shanghai +1.97%.

Gold prices dipped on Friday ending a 5-day win streak but still managed to gain 3.6% over the week to close at $1103 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil plummeted 10% last week, closing out the week at $33.16 a barrel (12yr low).

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