Dollar opening market

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7251 (mid-rate) this morning.

The EUR and GBP were the big movers on Friday, with both currencies surging higher as the USD continued to struggle.

Friday’s US inflation data fell short of economists’ estimates with the Labor Department report showing the consumer price index nudged up by 0.1% in December following on from a 0.4% increase in November. Economists had expected prices to rise by 0.2%. US retail sales for the same period increased in line with expectations rising by 0.4% following an upwardly revised 0.9% increase in November.

The EUR received a further boost on Friday evening after it was reported that German politicians had reached a breakthrough in talks and were close to forming a new c oalition government.

The only domestic economic data of note during the week ahead is Wednesday morning’s global dairy trade auction, with farmers hoping for a further increase in prices following the slight rise recorded at the previous event.

Global equity markets with the exception of the Nikkei rallied on Friday, - Dow +0.89%, S&P 500 +0.67%, FTSE +0.20%, DAX +0.32%, CAC +0.52%, Nikkei -0.24%, Shanghai +0.10%.

Gold prices extended their weekly gains on Friday, up 1.2% closing out the week at $1,338 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil prices held steady on Friday, closing out the week $64.23 a barrel for a weekly gain of 5.7%.

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