Risk markets improved overnight taking the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) off recent lows around 0.5980 to 0.6070 early Friday. US Equities put in a solid performance in overnight trading, the Nasdaq up over 1.2% as the greenback was sold off. The recent shift in the RBNZ policy continues to weigh on the kiwi fundamentals. We suspect we could see another improvement in the Non-Farm Payroll release tomorrow morning. US Manufacturing has indicated the industry is hiring new people with employment growth improving. Also, this week’s Services report showed job creations are the strongest it’s been in 10 months. ADP Non-Farm release was also positive overnight 278k vs 173k offering a clue as to what we can expect. Usually, a better-than-expected NFP release is good for the USD.
The current interbank midrate is: NZDUSD 0.6058
The interbank range this week has been: NZDUSD 0.5983- 0.6076