HiFX Morning Update, March 5 2018

HiFX Morning Update, March 5 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7242 (mid-rate) this morning.

Global equity markets along with the USD continued to struggle on Friday with investors concerned that Donald Trump's plans to impose new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports will lead to a global trade war.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for February fell just short of its initial estimate of 99.9, recording a final reading of 99.7. The result showed sentiment in the US continues to improve with February’s reading up sharply from January’s 95.7 result.

As we await this morning’s Italian election result the news that Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) have agreed to another coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives should support a stronger EUR. The Italian election result should be announced later this morning.

The week ahead will be dominated by central bank announcements with the RBA, ECB BOC and BOJ all due to release their latest monetary statements.

Global equity markets fell further on Friday, - Dow -0.29%, S&P 500 +0.50%, FTSE -1.47%, DAX -2.27%, CAC -2.39%, Nikkei -2.50%, Shanghai -0.59%.

Gold prices pushed higher on Friday, up 1.2% closing out the week at $1,322 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil prices edged higher on Friday, up 0.2%, on the day to $61.09 a barrel.

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