NZ PM Ardern: Auckland will exit lockdown on Wednesday, move to level 2

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

New Zealand Prime Minister (PM) Jacinda Ardern announced Wednesday that the country has eased the coronavirus outbreak-induced lockdown restrictions in Auckland.

Key comments

“There has not been a widespread outbreak.”

“Auckland will exit lockdown tonight, move to level 2.”

“For the rest of the country from 2 to 1.”

“The levels to be reviewed again on Monday.”

NZD/USD unfazed

NZD/USD fails to take advantage of the upbeat news, trading around 0.7200, down 0.19% on a daily basis.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

GBP/USD flirts with 1.3500 as USD finds fresh demand

GBP/USD is flatlining near the 1.3500 level in Europe on Tuesday, facing some pressure from renewed US Dollar demand as a safe-haven amid surging Oil prices and inflationary concerns. The focus now remains on the Middle East headlines, with Wednesday's US CPI data the key event risk this week.

EUR/USD stays weak near 1.1550 amid US-Iran impasse

EUR/USD struggles to gain any meaningful traction and hovers near the 1.1550 area in the European session. Traders seem hesitant to place aggressive bets and opt to wait for further developments surrounding the Middle East crisis and this week's release of the latest US inflation figures.

Gold off two-month highs, back below $4,400 amid surging Oil prices

Gold retreats from its highest level since June 5 at $4,435, touched earlier this Tuesday, and slides back below the $4,400 mark in European trading. Surging Oil prices, amid the US-Iran impasse on talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, rekindled inflation concerns, lending support to the US DOllar at the expense of the non-yielding bullion.

Pi Network holds at key support as broader market declines

Pi Network steadies around $0.08745 after two consecutive days of losses, capped below the $0.1000 psychological threshold. Retail demand in PI derivatives remains firm, with Open Interest above $9 million, even as broader crypto market sentiment wanes. Technically, PI faces a steeper correction, as it lacks upside momentum to support a near-term recovery.

The inflation narrative is still way more important than the employment story

Core bonds sold off yesterday with the belly of the curve slightly underperforming in the US while European curves showed more of a bear flattening. Daily changes on the US curve varied between +4.7 bps (2-yr) and +6.4 bps (7-yr).

9-3: Is the Federal Reserve’s vote tally Warsh's new forward guidance?

The rate did not move. Neither did the statement, and that’s the more interesting fact. Set the July 29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement beside the one issued on June 17, and the two documents are identical apart from a single verb and a paragraph at the bottom naming three dissenters.