APAC Morning Update - 12/03/21

The NZDUSD opens at 0.7215 and the AUDUSD opens at 0.7780.

The NZD and the AUD have had a quiet couple of days after last weeks inflation fears fuelled the USD higher.

This has been helped by softer consumer price data in the US which has eased the concerns of a possible spike in inflation once economies reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic.

US jobless claims numbers also came out overnight, and they came out slightly better than expected. There is hope that the new stimulus bill that was passed this week through Congress will transform the situation for the millions who are still out of work, and kickstart the economy into life. Watch this space!

In Europe:

The ECB came out overnight and said it was ready to accelerate the money-printing to keep the eurozone yields down. This looks like an attempt to convince the markets it will do what it takes to get their flagging economy propped up so it can also recover with strength from the last year of lockdowns.

Equities:

The Dow Jones hit an all time high for the fourth straight session, with the bigger than expected fall in jobless claims and the sign of fresh stimulus on the horizon to drive the markets continually higher. Money printing has been a magnet to these equity markets while yields have remained low.

Global equity markets are higher across the board: Dow +1.0%, S&P 500 +1.4%, FTSE +0.2%, DAX +0.2%, CAC +0.7%, Nikkei +0.6%, Shanghai +2.4%.

Gold prices are up 0.1%, currently trading at $1,724 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices are also up 2.0% trading at $65.77 a barrel.

AUDUSD 0.7780 0.6%
AUDEUR 0.6497 0.1%
AUDGBP 0.5568 0.3%
AUDJPY 84.42 0.7%
AUDNZD 1.0777 0.2%
GBPAUD 1.7960 -0.3%

NZDUSD 0.7215 0.4%
NZDEUR 0.6026 -0.1%
NZDGBP 0.5166 0.1%
NZDJPY 78.34 0.2%
NZDAUD 0.9279 -0.1%
NZDCAD 0.9064 -0.1%
GBPNZD 1.9357 -0.1%