XE Morning Update - August 5, 2019

The NZDUSD opens at 0.6532 (mid-rate) this morning.

The US-China trade war intensified on Friday after China's Commerce Ministry said that it was “strongly dissatisfied” with the US announcement, and that they “will have to take necessary countermeasures.” The additional tariffs Trump has threatened to impose will cover almost all the goods imported from China into the US.

The USD slipped lower against the majors after the US Labour Department released its latest non-farm payroll employment report. The data showed non-farm employment increased by 164k jobs in July following on from a downwardly revised 193K jobs rise in June. The July result was in line with economists’ estimates while June’s increase was previously reported as 224k jobs.

The University of Michigan July consumer sentiment index final reading came in at 98.4 unchanged from the preliminary reading and marginally better than June’s final reading of 98.2.

The NZD is expected to remain under pressure ahead of Wednesday’s RBNZ monetary policy statement with a 25 basis point rate cut fully priced in. The RBNZ warned of continued concern over the impact of “subdued business sentiment” in dampening domestic spending and will be very disappointed with last week’s ANZ survey.

Global equity markets fell sharply on Friday, - Dow -0.37%, S&P 500 -0.72%, FTSE -2.34%, DAX -3.11%, CAC -3.57%, Nikkei -2.11%, Shanghai -1.41%.

Gold prices dipped on profit taking on Friday closing out the week at $1,440 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices rebounded 2.3% on Friday, closing out the week at $55.67 a barrel.

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