HiFX Morning Update, April 9, 2018

HiFX Morning Update, April 9, 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7265 (mid-rate) this morning.

Trade war concerns were once again front and centre on Friday prompting another sell-off in US equity markets as investors loaded up on safe-havens.

The sell-off came after Donald Trump declared China’s proposed tariffs on US imports unfair and announced he had instructed the USTR to consider whether $100 billion of additional tariffs would be appropriate under section 301 and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs.” Trump went on to say that he has also “instructed the Secretary of Agriculture, with the support of other members of my Cabinet, to use his broad authority to implement a plan to protect our farmers and agricultural interests."

Sentiment waned further after the Labour Department non-farm-payroll report showed U.S. job growth slowed by much more than anticipated in the month of March, with unemployment holding steady at 4.1%. Non-farm-payroll increased by 103k jobs in March after surging by an upwardly revised 326k jobs in February. Economists had forecast an increase of about 193k jobs in March up from the previously reported 313k increase in February.

The week ahead will be dominated by trade war headlines with Thursday’s US CPI the pick of the scheduled economic data releases.

Global equity markets turned negative on Friday, - Dow -2.34%, S&P 500 -2.19%, FTSE -0.22%, DAX -0.52%, CAC -0.35%, Nikkei -0.36%, Shanghai -0.18%.

Gold prices pushed higher on Friday as safe haven demand increased, closing out the week at $1,332 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil prices fell sharply on Friday, down 2.4% closing out the week at $62.10 a barrel.

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