Stronger Kiwi and Aussie Dollar
April 22, 2014
The U.S. dollar’s main overnight moves were declines of 0.5% against the New Zealand dollar and 0.4% versus the Aussie dollar, the latter in spite of another protesting comment from Australia’s Treasurer about the currency’s excessive strength and the central bank’s disinclination to ease further.
Otherwise, the dollar is unchanged against the euro and Swissie, down 0.2% relative to sterling, and up 0.2% against the yuan and 0.1% versus the yen and loonie.
Following the Good Friday/Easter holiday, stocks in Europe have risen 1.7% in Germany, 1.4% in Spain, 1.2% in Switzerland, and 1.1% in France and Britain. North American stocks are up more moderately. In the Pacific Rim, Japan’s Nikkei dropped 0.9%, while equities increased by 0.7% in Singapore, 0.5% in Australia, 0.4% in China, and 0.3% in Taiwan and South Korea.
The ten-year British gilt yield is five basis points higher, while 10-year German bunds and Japanese JGBs are unchanged.
West Texas Intermediate oil is 1.6% lower at $102.70 per barrel, while gold is unchanged at $1,287.60 per ounce.
Sri Lanka’s central bank repo and reverse repo rates were left unchanged as expected at 6.5% and 8.0%.
Japan’s index of leading economic indicators in February was revised down to 108.5 from a preliminary 108.5 reading. The index of coincident economic indicators was revised 0.4 points lower to 113.0.
U.S.existing home sales of 4.59 million in March were 0.2% lower than in February. The FHFA housing price index went up 0.6% on month but decelerated to a 12-month increase of 6.9%. The Richmond Fed manufacturing index improved 14 points to a reading of +7 this month.
Wholesale turnover in Canada climbed1.1% in February on top of a 0.8% rise in January. The 12-month increase was 3.5%, up from 2.4% in January.
Consumer confidence in the euro area improved by 0.6 points to –8.7 in April, according to preliminary data. A year earlier, consumer confidence had a negative 20.8 score.
Construction output in Euroland edged up 0.1% in February after jumping 1.6% in both December and January. In contrast to a 0.5% 4Q13-over-3Q13 drop, the level in January-February was 2.7% greater than the 4Q13 mean.
Australia’s index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3% in February according to the Conference Board after a 0.2% increase in January. The index of coincident economic indicators, which also went up 0.2% in January, gained 0.4% in February.
Hong Kong CPI inflation of 3.9% in March was the same as in February and accompanied by a 3.1% unemployment rate.
Sweden’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate stayed at 8.1% last month. Danish consumer confidence rose to 5.5 in April from 5.0 the month before. Swiss M3 money growth accelerated 0.3 percentage points to 9.0% in March.
Copyright 2014, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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