USD Weakened On Friday Despite A Stronger-than-Expected Q1 GDP Report - APAC Update

The AUDUSD opened at 0.7037 (midmarket rate) ,  and the NZDUSD opened at 0.6656 (mid-rate) this morning.

Key domestic data releases for the NZD will be tomorrow’s business confidence and Thursday’s Q1 employment reports, while the main focus for international investors will be Thursday morning’s FOMC and the weekends non-farm payroll reports.

US Update

The USD weakened on Friday despite a stronger-than-expected Q1 GDP report. The Commerce Department report showed US Q1 economic growth accelerated at a faster pace than economists had forecast with the preliminary data for gross domestic product surging by 3.2% following on from a 2.2% increase in Q4.

What the headline number failed to show was a sharp decline in private-sector consumption and investment which inched up by 1.3% annual rate,  its slowest pace in nearly six years.

On Saturday the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for April was upwardly revised to 97.2 from the preliminary reading of 96.9. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised to 97.0 following on from a final reading of 98.4 in March.

Crude oil prices have snapped their best weekly win streak in four years after President Trump called on OPEC to increase production to ease gasoline prices. Crude prices which have risen on a weekly basis for the past eight weeks fell after President Trump announced that he had spoken with OPEC officials and told them to bring prices down.

Global equity markets closed out the week mixed, - Dow +0.31%, S&P 500 +0.47%, FTSE -0.08%, DAX +0.27%, CAC +0.21%, Nikkei -0.22%, Shanghai -1.20%.

Gold prices edged higher on Friday, up 0.5% closing out the week at $1,285 an ounce.

WTI Crude Oil prices fell sharply on Friday, up down 2.5%  closing at $63.38 a barrel.

Mid-market Rates

AUDUSD0.70370.3%NZDUSD0.66560.5%AUDEUR0.63090.2%NZDEUR0.59650.3%AUDGBP0.54350.1%NZDGBP0.51510.3%AUDJPY78.55-0.4%NZDJPY74.250.1%AUDNZD1.0575-0.5%NZDAUD0.94550.6%GBPAUD1.8365-0.1%NZDCAD0.89550.5% GBPNZD1.9414-0.6%
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