HiFX Morning Update, March 7 2018

HiFX Morning Update, March 7 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7297 (mid-rate) this morning.

The NZD is the best performer of the G10 Currencies overnight, gaining 1% against the US Dollar and Japanese Yen.

Yesterday afternoon Australian Retail Sales increased 0.1% in January, worse than the 0.4% expected. Australian Current Account balance also came in worse than expected at AUD 14 billion deficit. The Market consensus was for an AUD 12 billion deficit.

New orders for U.S.-made goods recorded their biggest decline in six months in January and business spending on equipment appeared to be slowing after strong growth in 2017. Factory goods orders fell 1.4% amid a broad decrease in demand. That was the largest drop since July 2017 and followed five straight monthly increases. Factory orders rose 1.8% in December. January’s drop in orders was broadly in line with economists’ expectations.

The U.S. IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index eased 1.1 points to 55.6 in March, taking a step back after hitting a 13-year high in February. The polling from Feb. 22 to March 1, reflecting 901 responses, came after a month that saw most Americans' paychecks get a boost from lower tax withholdings and the first real bout of stock-market weakness in two years. While political support for the tax cuts has strengthened, polling shows that only about 1 in 4 registered voters noticed an increase in their paychecks.

One of President Trump’s close Senate allies, David Perdue, says he’s working to convince Trump to target the tariffs both by country and category of goods. Perdue met with White House Chief of Staff John Kelly overnight and has spoken with Trump personally. Kelly says the president may be open to changes.

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has told South Korean envoys that he is willing to negotiate with the United States on abandoning his country’s nuclear weapons, officials from the South said. With less risk of military tensions, USD was sold, NZD and AUD benefited and Gold rose significantly.

The Swiss Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.4% in February 2018 compared with the previous month, reaching 101.1 points. Inflation was 0.6% compared with the same month of the previous year.

Global equity markets are higher: Dow +0.28%, S&P 500 +0.27%, FTSE +0.43%, DAX +0.19%, CAC +0.06%, Nikkei +1.79%, Shanghai +1.00%.

Gold prices gained 1.1% or $14 currently trading at $1,333 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices rose a modest 0.2% currently trading at $62.55 a barrel.

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