Market Overview
- The RBNZ cuts Interest Rate by half a percent to 4.75%.
- ECB’s Villeroy says the European Central Bank (ECB) will probably cut rates at their October 18th meeting as economic growth is weak siting inflation may undershoot their 2.0% target.
- Conflicts in the Middle East remain, but with hopes of a Hezbollah and Israel ceasefire on the cards the situation could ease. Until then safe haven flows in Gold and the greenback continue to dominate market moves.
- Uncertainty over potential Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate hikes have halted USD demand this week in the USDJPY cross but with speculation that the Japanese authorities may again intervene in the FX markets to support local Japanese domestic growth could shift the JPY higher not only against the USD but other crosses such as the NZD and AUD.
- Australian Consumer Confidence rose from -0.5% to 6.2% in October,.
- RBA backed away from their recent “hold for longer” tone suggesting they were more aware they may need to cut rates earlier than recently suggested.
- The US Dollar (USD) has been the best performing currency this month while the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) has been the worst performing.