NZD drifting ahead of Business Confidence
Posted 10 hours agoSharePrint
The New Zealand dollar continues to drift on Monday, after a quiet week. Currently, NZD/USD is trading at 0.7030, unchanged on the day.
Investors eye New Zealand Business Confidence
The well-respected NZIER Business Confidence, released each quarter, will be released later on Monday (tentative). The indicator declined by -70% in Q1 of 2020, at the height of the Covid-pandemic which shut down much of the New Zealand economy. Since then, Business Confidence has improved, reaching -6% in Q4. A reading in positive territory in Q1 could raise risk sentiment and boost the currency.
Will Business Confidence shake up AUD?
Posted 9 hours agoSharePrint
The Australian dollar has started the week with a whimper. Currently, AUD/USD is currently trading at 0.7620.
Australia releases the NAB Business Confidence early on Tuesday (1:30 GMT). Business confidence continues to show stronger optimism, rising to 16 in February, up from 10 beforehand. The Australian economy has recovered remarkably well from the Covid-19 downturn – unemployment has dropped below 6% and commodity prices are rising as the global economy finds its footing.
A major sore point in the country’s vaccine rollout. Australia had banked on the AstraZeneca vaccine for most of 26 million residents and had planned to vaccinate almost all by the end of 2021. However, with recommendations that people under 50 should not receive the AstraZeneca shot, the government has had to abandon this goal and is scrambling to find millions of Pfizer shots.
Euro pauses after solid week
Posted 11 hours agoSharePrint
The euro has posted slight gains in the Monday session. Currently, EUR/USD is trading at 1.1914, up 0.13% on the day. The euro has been on a steady decline since mid-February, but reversed directions and gained 1.19% last week, its best weekly performance since mid-December. If the upward trend continues, the euro could pressure the symbolic 1.20 line as early as this week.
The eurozone has experienced another wave of Covid cases, leading to tighter lockdowns in Germany and France, the bloc’s two biggest economies. Still, there was positive news on Monday, as eurozone retail sales posted a solid gain of 3.0%, rebounding from a decline of -5.2% and easily exceeding the consensus of 1.0%. The data has given a slight lift to the euro.
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9 Apr 2021
The first two months of the presidency of Joe Biden have not been a particularly auspicious period in which to be black, poor, or working class in America.
The unemployment rate for black Americans fell for eight consecutive months as Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House marched toward its end, falling from 16.7 percent to 9.2 percent in January, one of the swiftest decline in unemployment in recorded economic history. It jumped back up to 9.9 percent in February and only slightly recovered to 9.6 percent in March.
It isn’t just black Americans that are suffering. Lower-income Americans of all races have also seen setbacks in the early months of the Biden administration.