HiFX Morning Update, February 13 2018

HiFX Morning Update, February 13 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7246 (mid-rate) this morning.

The AUD has been the strongest performer over the past 24hrs, with the NZD little changed against the other majors.

The NZDUSD traded to a session high of 0.7275 but has failed to hold this level and is back trading at yesterday’s open. The catalyst for the push higher was yesterday’s better than expected Electronic Card Retail Sales data for the month of January. The data showed credit card spending in New Zealand spiked a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in January following on from December’s 0.2% gain.

Global equity markets have rallied strongly overnight with investors picking up stocks at reduced levels following last weeks’ sell-off. Rising commodity prices has also assisted the move with gold prices up circa 1% from the open.

There is very little in the way of local economic data during our trading session with investors likely to focus their attention on tonight’s UK inflation data and tomorrow’s RBNZ Inflation Expectations report for direction.

Global equity markets have started the week on the front foot - Dow +1.81%, S&P 500 +1.21%, FTSE +1.09%, DAX +1.45%, CAC +1.20%, Nikkei Closed, Shanghai +0.78%.

Gold prices are up 0.8% trading at $1,325 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices have edged higher, up 0.5% trading at $59.52 a barrel.

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