HiFX morning Update, November 19, 2018

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6865 (mid-rate) this morning.

The USD along with US Treasury yields fell sharply on Friday after newly appointed vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, Richard Clarida commented that central bank is close to the point of being "neutral" and that further interest rate hikes should be driven by economic data.. During an interview with CNBC Mr Clarida stated that “as you move in the range of policy that by some estimates is close to neutral, then with the economy doing well it's appropriate to sort of shift the emphasis toward being more data dependent."

US equity markets managed to close out the week in positive territory after President Trump told reporters that the Chinese response to US trade demands was largely complete although there are still four or five big issues that are still unresolved, although these comments have now been overshadowed with US Vice President Mike Pence trading barbs Chinese leader Xi Jinping at this weekend’s APEC summit.

A lack of tier one economic data this week will see investors and markets react to Brexit headlines with UK PM Theresa May facing a possible leadership challenge ahead of an expected EU summit next week.

Global equity market closed out the week mixed, - Dow +0.47%, S&P 500 +0.22%, FTSE -0.34%, DAX -0.11%, CAC -0.17%, Nikkei -0.57%, Shanghai +0.41%.

Gold prices pushed higher Friday, up 0.6% closing out the week at $1,221 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices were little changed on Friday, but were down a further 6% on the week.

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