XE Morning Update

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6625 (mid-rate) this morning.

The USD rose sharply on Friday buoyed by a much stronger than expected non-farm-payroll report.

The US Labour Department’s report showed jobs growth reaccelerated in the month of June with employment surging by 224k jobs, well ahead of the expected 160k jobs increase. The result was the largest increase in jobs in five months and decreases the likelihood of the Fed cutting rates later this month. Reflecting an increase in the size of the labour force the report also showed the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.7% in June, following on from May’s 3.6% reading. The dollar index spiked to a 3-week high of 97.44 following the release of the data, but drifted lower during the afternoon closing up 0.5% on the day at 97.25.

The week ahead is likely to be dominated by Fed speak with several voting members including Fed Chair Jerome Powell due to speak ahead of Thursday evening’s FOMC meeting minutes from their June announcement.

Global equity markets closed mixed on Friday, - Dow -0.16%, S&P 500 -0.18%, FTSE -0.66%, DAX -0.49%, CAC -0.48%, Nikkei +0.28, Shanghai +0.19%.

Gold prices closed lower on Friday, down 1.1% closing out the week at $1,399 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices pushed higher on Friday, up 1.6% closing at $57.59 a barrel.

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