Home Daily Commentaries NZD improves in the face of recent US-China trade war comments

NZD improves in the face of recent US-China trade war comments

Daily Currency Update

NZD - New Zealand DollarThe NZD saw a modest spike during yesterday’s trading session, hitting a one-month high of 0.6532 against the USD this morning. The improvement was mainly off a weakness in the USD, after President Trump’s comments about the US-China trade war that there was no deadline for the trade deal and he would wait until after the election. On the macroeconomic news front, RBNZ Governor Orr is scheduled to speak on Thursday morning. While we don’t expect to hear anything new, volatility is often experienced during his speeches as traders attempt to decipher interest rate clues.The Kiwi opened at 0.6518 against the United States dollar this morning.

Key Movers

The USD has weakened against most other currencies on the back of recent talks regarding the US-China trade deal. President Trump imposed import tariffs of 2.3bn worth of French goods in retaliation for the tax imposed by Paris on the sales of digital services providers, commenting that “I’m not going to let anyone take advantage of American companies. If anyone is going to take advantage of American companies, it’s going to be us”.Overnight we saw the US Manufacturing PMI data come back less than expected at 48.1 against a forecasted 49.2. Showing the level of diffusion index based on surveyed purchasing managers in the manufacturing industry, the negative data implies industry contraction.Over in Canada we can expect to see some movement with the rate statement and overnight rate announcements being released after midnight tonight. With the interest rate expected to stay at 1.75%, this is usually already priced into the market but tends to be overshadowed by the rate statement which is focused on the future and discusses the economic conditions that influenced their decision.

Expected Ranges

  • NZD/AUD: 0.9445 - 0.9585 ▲
  • NZD/CAD: 0.8610 - 0.8750 ▲
  • GBP/NZD: 1.9605 - 2.0325 ▼
  • NZD/AUD: 0.9475 - 0.9580 ▲
  • NZD/USD: 0.6430 - 0.6595 ▲