XE Morning Update

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6468 (mid-rate) this morning.

Markets were once again dominated by Trump comments on Friday with the US President announcing to reporters that the US are “not going to do business” with Huawei.

Trump also cast doubts as to whether or not the next round of trade talks scheduled for September will actually take place. "We'll see whether or not we keep our meeting in September," Trump said. "If we do, that's fine. If we don't, that's fine."

Trump’s comments were made after a report from Bloomberg said the Trump administration is holding off on decisions about licenses for U.S. companies to restart business with Huawei.

On the economic data font the US labour Department reported its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.2% in July following 0.15 increases in both May and June. The result was in line with economists’ forecasts.

The British pound is the weakest performing of the G10 currencies after the Office for National Statistics reported the UK economy unexpectedly contracted for the first time in more than six years in Q2.

Gross domestic product fell 0.2% in Q2 adding to concerns that the UK are heading into a recession as the Brexit deadline looms. On an annual basis the economy expanded 1.2% a sharp fall from the 1.8% recorded in Q1.

With little in the way of domestic data over the coming week, the NZD will be dictated by offshore data with the latest US monthly inflation and retail sales reports the pick of the scheduled releases.

Global equity markets weakened on Friday, - Dow -0.34%, S&P 500 -0.66%, FTSE -0.44%, DAX -1.28%, CAC -1.11%, Nikkei +0.44%, Shanghai -0.71%.

Gold prices were down 1.3% on Friday closing out the week at $1,496 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices rebounded 2.8% on Friday, closing out the week at $54.37 a barrel.

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