ADP Nonfarm Employment, Service Sector PMI, and the FED Put the Dollar in the Spotlight

In This Article:

Earlier in the Day:

It was a busy start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Kiwi Dollar and the Aussie Dollar were in focus early in the Asian session, with economic data from China also drawing attention.

On the monetary policy front, the RBNZ released its Financial Stability Report ahead of the market open.

For the Kiwi Dollar

Following the RBNZ’s latest rate hike, there was plenty of interest in this morning’s report.

Salient points from the report snapshot included:

  • Ongoing challenges from COVID-19 are affecting many businesses and making the future hard to plan.

  • Stretched house prices and climate change also present risks to financial stability.

  • Banks’ capital levels have risen, however, making them more resilient to potential losses stemming from any economic downturn.

On the economic data front, employment figures were in focus.

In the 3rd quarter, employment increased by 2.0%, quarter-on-quarter, following a 1.0% rise in the previous quarter. Economists had forecast a 0.4% rise.

As a result, the unemployment rate fell from 4.0% to 3.4%. Economists had forecast an unemployment rate of 3.9%.

According to NZ Stats,

  • Unemployment and underutilization fell to near record lows, with employment at an all-time high.

  • In the 3rd quarter, the underutilization rate fell from 10.5% to 9.2%, while the employment rate rose to 68.8%.

  • Wages were also on the rise, with the LCI salary and wages rates rising by 2.4% year-on-year.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.71045 to $0.71253 upon release of the numbers. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was up by 0.17% to $0.7123.

For the Aussie Dollar

Building approvals fell by 4.30% in September, partially reversing a 7.6% jump from August.

According to the ABS,

  • Private sector house approvals tumbled by 16.0%, weighing on the headline figure.

  • Excluding houses, private sector dwellings surged by 18.1%.

  • In spite of the September decline in building approvals, the series remains 18.2% higher than the pre-pandemic level in Sept-2019.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.74288 to $0.74321 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.09% to $0.7436.

From China

The services sector was back in focus following disappointing NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI numbers from the weekend.

According to the Markit survey, the Caixin Services PMI rose from 53.4 to 53.8 in October.

  • Both business activity and new work expanded at a solid pace at the start of the 4th

  • Employment at services companies rose for a 2nd month in a row.

  • Input prices rose at the fastest rate since July, however, leading to a further pickup in output charge inflation.