Kiwi slips as retail sales slow

NZD/USD near two-week lows

The New Zealand dollar fell to the lowest in almost two weeks versus the US dollar the growth rate for the nation’s retail sales slowed in the third quarter. Sales showed no gains on a quarter-on-quarter basis, well below Q2’s 1.1% advance. If you exclude car sales, then retail sales rose 0.4% q/q from +1.3% in Q2. NZD/USD fell to an intraday low of 0.6756, the lowest since November 13, before recovering to 0.6788. The FX pair is currently capped by the 200-day moving average, which has contained prices since April 23.

NZD/USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

Pound unmoved by Brexit deal

The pound has been stable in slow trading during the Asian session, confined to about a 45 point range. It would appear that the currency is not out of the woods yet, despite the Brexit summit producing a deal, with many tough negotiations and a parliamentary vote to come. PM May has stated that the UK would continue to have a good, close partnership with European partners and the deal was a compromise that both sides had to give. Support for the deal is in the national interest and reiterated that the next weeks are crucial for the future with one of the most significant votes in Parliament in recent history.

Meanwhile, the UK’s Telegraph newspaper is reporting that UK cabinet ministers and EU diplomats are secretly drawing up a “Plan B” Brexit proposal on the assumption PM May’s deal will not get through Parliament. GBP/USD is now trading at 1.2815.

GBP/USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

A slow start to a busy week on the data front

It’s a slow start to the week on the data calendar with Germany’s IFO sentiment surveys the next item on the agenda. All three indices are expected to show lower readings, with the current assessment at 105.3, the business climate at 102.3 and the expectations index at 99.2.

We have a slew of ECB speakers on tap, with Praet, Nowotny and Coeure all scheduled, with BOE’s Carney also listed. The US slate lacks any tier-1 data with the Dallas Fed manufacturing index the only item on tap. That index is seen slipping to 25.0 from 29.4 in October.

The full MarketPulse data calendar can be viewed at https://www.marketpulse.com/economic-events/

Money FM Market Insight with OANDA Head of Trading APAC Stephen Innes

What’s driving the US equity sell-off, why are oil prices plunging and what does this all mean for Asian shares?

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.