The Euro has fallen marginally against the New Zealand Dollar today, following an unexpected decline in German consumer confidence.
- EUR NZD rate dips to 1.53 – NZD EUR rate advances to 0.65
- German disappointment lowers Euro demand – French confidence score unsettles traders
- New Zealand Dollar up on falling confidence in US policies – RBNZ leaves interest rates on hold
- Will Euro recover on Eurozone confidence? – Optimism for incoming NZ trade balance
Although the GfK German consumer confidence score had been forecast to reprint at 10 points, it surprisingly dropped to 9.8 and damaged the Euro’s value.
Further lowering Euro demand today has been France’s business confidence score for March, which has also upset forecasts and fallen from 107 points to 104.
Following a relatively slow Wednesday, the other main Eurozone focus is on Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who recently courted controversy with remarks about southern European nations.
Dijsselbloem’s comment that ‘I can’t spend all my money on liqueurs and women and then go and ask for your support’ has been interpreted as a harsh insult at a time of high debt among Eurozone nations.
This raising of tensions between EU institutions and members has done little to reassure Euro traders as it threatens future fragmentation and disunity.
In New Zealand news, the latest appreciation for the New Zealand Dollar follows the US Dollar’s devaluation. This latter decline has come from signs that a proposed replacement to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be rejected by Democrat and Republican officials.
This would be a significant blow to Donald Trump’s ambitious and rapid-fire policy plans, and could point to further rejections in the future. This has all enabled New Zealand Dollar appreciation today and may bring further gains in the near-term.
Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has left interest rates at 1.75%, matching forecasts.
The Euro may be able to recover against the New Zealand Dollar today, provided that March’s consumer confidence flash improves as forecast. If the expected move from -6.2 to -5.7 fails to materialise, however, then the EUR NZD exchange rate could remain in a poor position.
Today’s NZ news could bring further NZD gains, with the February trade balance forecast to show a major rise from -285m to 160m.
Current EUR NZD Interbank Exchange Rates
At the time of writing, the Euro to New Zealand Dollar (EUR NZD) exchange rate was trading at 1.53 and the New Zealand Dollar to Euro (NZD EUR) exchange rate was trading at 0.65.