HiFX Morning Update, May 17 2017

HiFX Morning Update, May 17 2017

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6883 (mid-rate) this morning.

This morning’s Global Dairy Trade auction has had little effect on the NZD, with the EUR and JPY outperforming all other G10 currencies.

Prices at this morning’s Global Dairy Trade auction have increased for a fifth consecutive time. The index increased by 3.2% from the previous auction a fortnight ago. Whole milk powder and skim milk powder edged up 1.3% and 15 respectively while the big mover was butter which increased by 11.2%. A total volume of 21,236 metric tonnes of product sold at this morning’s auction, slightly less than the 22,633 metric tonnes of product sold at the previous auction.

The EUR has been the best performing G10 currency over the past 24hrs spiking after the Euro-zone Flash GDP rose 0.5%, in line with expectations and although
German ZEW Economic Sentiment came up short of its forecast result (20.6 Vs 22.3) the Euro-zone ZEW Economic Sentiment surged to 35.1 well ahead of its estimated 29.1 reading.

US economic data releases were once again mixed with disappointing building permits and housing starts data releases being offset by better than expected industrial production.

Inflation in the UK rose more-than-expected with the Office for National Statistics report showing CPI spiked to 2.7% in April ahead of the forecast 2.4% increase. CPI is now at its highest level since September 2013.

The highlight for the NZD today will be this morning’s Producer Price Index (PPI) data release, currently forecast to increase by 0.7%.

Global equity markets are mixed - Dow -0.04%, S&P 500 -0.13%, FTSE +0.91%, DAX -0.02%, CAC -0.21%, Nikkei +0.25% Shanghai +0.74%.

Gold prices continue to push higher currently up 0.7% trading at $1,238 an ounce .WTI Crude Oil is little changed currently trading at $48.70 a barrel.

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