XE Morning Update January 20, 2019

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6611 (mid-rate) this morning.

Friday’s stronger-than-expected Chinese and US economic data releases increased risk appetite and pushed up European and US to new highs.

China’s industrial production, which had been expected to pull back from 6.2% in November to 5.9% in December surprised economists by spiking up 6.9%. Retail sales were also ahead of expectations up 8.0% on an annual basis.

The US Commerce Department reported housing starts surged 16.9% in December following on from a healthy 2.6% increase in December. The result was well ahead of the expected 0.7% increase

The odds that the Bank of England will cut rates at this month’s policy meeting increased after data from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales fell for the fifth consecutive month in December. The report showed sales were down 0.6% following on from a 0.8% fall in November. The BoE are due to release their latest monetary policy statement on Jan 31st.

The key local driver for the NZD this week will be Friday’s quarterly inflation report with expectations of a 0.4% rise in core price inflation.

Global equity markets had a positive close on Friday, - Dow +0.17%, S&P 500 +0.39%, FTSE +0.85%, DAX +0.72%, CAC +1.02%, Nikkei +0.45%, Shanghai +0.05%.

Gold prices were little changed on Friday closing out the week at $1,475 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices pushed sideways on Friday, closing out the week at $58.58 a barrel.

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