Home Daily Commentaries Kiwi soars 1.2% to open above 0.65

Kiwi soars 1.2% to open above 0.65

Daily Currency Update

NZD - New Zealand DollarThe New Zealand dollar has broken out of hits narrow November trading range and moved significantly higher overnight buoyed by both domestic and international news. Opening this morning at 0.6501 against the Greenback, the Kiwi rose an impressive 1.2% to list as one of the top performers over the last 24 hours. Starting at home, the Kiwi first kicked into gear with news of a potential major NZ fiscal stimulus package signaled by Grant Robertson. While only a hint at this stage, the prospect of fiscal stimulus nevertheless supported the Kiwi. Moving offshore, China’s Manufacturing PMI was released over the weekend and reported a better than expected result. Following the result, China also released the Caixin PMI which also came in above expectations. Overall, the Chinese manufacturing sector grew at its fastest pace since December 2016, which in turn, sent the Kiwi upwards. Pushing the Kiwi into overdrive however was a significant fall in the value of the Greenback. The United States dollar fell across the board after the US ISM manufacturing survey came in weaker than expected. With support from China and a fall in the USD, the Kiwi had one of its best days over the last few weeks.Moving into Tuesday, the Kiwi enjoys a relatively quiet day on the economic calendar with direction to be driven by off-shore events in Australia.

Key Movers

A weaker than expected ISM Manufacturing Survey in the United States sent FX markets into overdrive as the Greenback fell significantly across the board. The ISM survey reported a reading of 48.1 against an expected 49.2, a large miss all in all. Despite the poor ISM survey result, there was a rise in the less followed US Final PMI survey to 52.6. Nevertheless, the US Dollar Index tumbled 0.45% to open this morning at 97.84. Staying with the United States, the December 15th deadline continues to linger in the back of the markets mind with any news of the US-China trade war continuing to dominate market sentiment. Overnight, Wilbur Ross told Fox News that “if nothing happens between now and then, the President has made it quite clear he’ll put the tariffs in – the increased tariffs”. The adversarial mood did not help the tenuous situation.

Expected Ranges

  • NZD/AUD: 0.9501 - 0.9569 ▲
  • NZD/CAD: 0.8617 - 0.8689 ▲
  • NZD/EUR: 0.5842 - 0.5899 ▲
  • GBP/NZD: 1.9876 - 1.9936 ▼
  • NZD/USD: 0.6476 - 0.6527 ▲