HiFX Morning Update, April 23, 2018

HiFX Morning Update, April 23, 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7215 (mid-rate) this morning.

The USD outperformed on Friday as US treasuries extended their move to the downside. Yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose by 3.7 basis points to 2.951% on Friday and now sits at four-year highs, as investors position their books for further interest rate hikes.

After hitting a 14-month low of 1.8% in February, Germany’s producer price inflation inched up to 1.95 in March. This was the first rise in six months. Economists had forecast the index to rise to 2.0%.

The British pound extended its fall on Friday after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney acknowledged that the recent economic data had been soft and that “Brexit uncertainty acts as a dampener to a pickup in business development.” Mr Carney went on to say that although an interest rate hike is “likely” this year economic decisions over the course of the next few years would depend upon the deal that the UK reach with the EU.

There is very little in the way of domestic data this week, while on the international front monetary policy statements out of both the ECB and the BOJ along with advanced Q1 GDP out of the US will be the main focus for investors.

Global equity markets closed out the week mixed on Friday, - Dow -0.82%, S&P 500 -0.85%, FTSE +0.54%, DAX -0.21%, CAC +0.39%, Nikkei -0.13%, Shanghai -1.47%.

Gold prices slipped lower on Friday down 0.7%, closing out the week at $1,334 an ounce, WTI Crude Oil prices spiked to $70 a barrel on Friday, but retraced the move after President Trump blasted OPEC for trying to artificially boost prices.

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