- NZ April trade balance NZ$ +1.113 billion, twice as much as expected
- NZD/USD marginally reaches new record high at .8216
- USD/CNY fixed at new record low of 6.4856
- EUR has weakened slightly on more speculation regarding the Greek situation
- Bini-Smaghi: Soft Greek restructure could be disastrous
- EU could intervene in Greek economy: FT
- Dutch FinMin: Greece must fulfil deal or no money from us
- Australian Treasurer: GDP suffered dramatic hit from floods
- Gold $1537/oz, Silver $38.10/oz, Oil $100.60/bbl
- HK, Singapore, Shanghai +0.5%; other regional bourses flat
USD/CHF broke below barriers at .8500 in very late Friday trade in NY and the pair opened here around .8490 and EUR/USD opened around 1.4320. The usual spate of Greece-related articles started to emerge and they had the effect of driving EUR/USD back below 1.4300 and it has chopped around in a 20 pip range for the last 6 hours. Ranges: EUR/USD 1.4276/1.4312, EUR/CHF 1.2145/75
The NZD was again the most active currency in Asia as AUD/NZD selling and the predominant USD-bearish sentiment combined with strong NZ trade data to send the NZD/USD to new 25 year highs at .8216 (albeit only 3 pips above the previous highs). AUD/NZD fell sharply from 1.3110 to 1.3020 before recovering some ground. Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan seemed to give a warning over the weekend that Wednesday’s GDP data might be worse than expected. AUD/USD traded a tight 1.0681/1.0715 range whilst being buffeted by the cross flows.
USD/JPY traded a 20 pip range between 80.75/95 with little movement in the crosses to generate any volatility.
Cable was similarly quiet in a 1.6474/1.6512 range with the cross trading .8654/83.
