NZD/USD bears in control on covid risk-off sentiment

NZD/USD is under pressure and trades down 0.15% falling from 0.6759 to a low of 0.6739 made so far on the day. High-beta currencies such as the kiwi are out of favour while risk has been shunned due to the new covid variant fears.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.73% at 654. S&P 500 fell a similar margin, ending down 0.9% to 4,668.97. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4% to 15,413.28 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.9% lower at 35,650.95. As for the bond markets, the 10-year US Treasury yield also fell 8 basis points to 1.41% while the two-year Treasury yields fell 3 basis points to 0.63% as stocks take a hit.

For NZD/USD, support is being eroded below 0.6750. ''Given the busy domestic and international event schedule, we’re keeping an open mind, especially given that the NZD and AUD “wore it” disproportionally last night,'' analysts at ANZ Bank said. ''Volatility seems to be the order of the day, with most traders likely watching correlated markets rather than data. Food price data today isn’t likely to perturb the Kiwi much.''

NZ's clean bill of Omicron health

As of December 9, the Omicron variant had been identified in 63 nations. In the US, at least 29  states and Washington DC. In Australia, the fifth Covid ‘variant of concern’, first identified in South Africa in November, has been detected in four Australian states and territories although domestic border restrictions in Australia have eased. The variant is said to be becoming dominant in Europe. 

No cases of the Omicron variant have been reported in New Zealand although several members of a flight crew who arrived in New Zealand this week are reported to have been identified as close contacts of a Covid Omicron variant case in Australia.  The Ministry of Health announced this today.