NZD stronger on tariff reliefs

Daily Currency Update

It's Trump's first day and so far, the markets have seen some relief with tariffs held off so far. Trump's team have mentioned that they will perform further studies into policies and trade relationships with China, Canada, and Mexico. Consequently, the NZD has risen 1.1% from yesterday's close, to around US$0.5671 versus the USD. The NZD has also slightly risen versus the CHF up 0.45% and a solid gain of 1.1 % versus the JPY overnight. There were some minor gains versus the AUD, CAD, GBP and EUR as well.

Trump has also stated that he would boost domestic oil production and rolling back some previous policies, such as pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement while promoting fossil fuels and mineral mining. Oil futures have slid on these remarks.

Despite tariffs being held off for now, China’s President, Xi Jinping, has called for China to be more proactive this year to cement their growth momentum as tariffs may be a reality. President Xi’s particular focus was for high level scientific and as well as technological reliance.