US-China Trade Optimism Quashed by Trump

The AUDUSD opens at 0.6869 (mid-rate) and the NZDUSD opens at 0.6325 (mid-rate) this morning.

Trade talks once again dominated the markets on Friday, with Thursday evening’s optimism quashed by Trump going into Friday’s close.

President Trump told reporters on Friday that he has not agreed to lift the tariffs on China with his advisors adding that the idea of a tariff rollback was not part of the original October "handshake" deal between Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. US equity markets sold-off following the news but still managed to close out the week at record highs.

Friday’s US economic data releases balanced out with the Commerce Department reporting wholesale inventories fell marginally more than expected in September, while the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index inched up slightly more than forecast in November.

It’s a big week for the NZD with tomorrow’s quarterly inflation expectations report the final piece of the jigsaw before the RBNZ release their latest monetary policy statement on Wednesday afternoon. Currently 80% of a 25 basis point cut is priced in.

Direction for the AUD will be dictated by Wednesday’s quarterly wage price index along with Thursday’s monthly employment report.

Global equity markets closed mixed on Friday - Dow +0.02%, S&P 500 +0.02%, FTSE -0.63%, DAX -0.46%, CAC -0.02%, Nikkei +0.26%, Shanghai -0.49%.

Gold prices edged lower on Friday, closing out the week at $1,458 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices were down 0.7% on Friday closing out the week at $57.26 a barrel.