XE Morning Update - April 11 2019

The NZDUSD opens higher at 0.6763 this morning.

The USD declined, pushing the NZDUSD higher, after the US Federal Reserve meeting minutes confirmed the central bank’s thinking was now tilted more towards cutting interest rates rather raising them as they had been gradually doing the past 2 years.

The Fed saw the US economy weathering a global economic slowdown, but they made it clear they saw no recession for the United States in the next few years.

US CPI (consumer price inflation) figures were released prior to the Fed minutes. The headline CPI increased by the most in 14 months in March, although the underlying inflation trend remained subdued amid slowing US and global economic growth. These figures help to reinforce the Fed’s current stance on interest rates.

The European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its ultra-easy monetary policy stance overnight and was giving recent stimulus measures time to work their way into the economy in an attempt to counter spreading global economic blues.

The GBP strengthened overnight, but remained within recent ranges. The EU is expected to grant the UK another Brexit delay but may force them to accept a longer extension than currently proposed, and with some strings attached.

The NZDAUD has traded to an 11-week low of 0.9430 as the market further prices in expected rate cut from the RBNZ, while the RBA sits pat for now at least.

The NZ Food Price Index will be released at 11:45am.

Global equity markets were mixed on the day - Dow -0.0%, S&P 500 +0.3%, FTSE -0.1%, DAX +0.5%, CAC +0.3%, Nikkei -0.5%, Shanghai +0.1%.

Gold prices were flat at USD$1,298 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices rose 0.8% to US$64.58 per barrel.

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