March 10, 2015: The EUR and NZD are the weakest. The USD is the strongest.
A snapshot of the forex market changes since the close yesterday (at 5 PM ET) shows the EUR and the NZD are the weakest currencies, while the USD is the safe haven and also the beneficiary from being the strongest economy.
The NZD is down on the back of reports from Fronterra that their baby milk powder might be the target of a blackmail campaign. The threats were made as part of a campaign to stop the use of agricultural pesticide 1080 in New Zealand. Police are investigating.
The EUR is weak for various reasons including concerns about the effectiveness of the QE (just started yesterday), Greek continues to be a hot topic for negative headlines. France was given another extension from budget shortfall. European stocks are getting hammered (Euro Stoxx down 1.43%). Bond yields are lower in Europe too (see charts below).
The beneficiary of the selling? The greenback. The strongest global economy should benefit the most. The employment gain of nearly 300K from last Friday is still fresh in traders minds as the expectation the Fed will tighten in 2015 (perhaps as early as June). Monday was a hangover day for the dollar, but the bullishness has returned today. The JPY is also a beneficiary on the "safe haven" bid into the JPY. Stocks in the US are expected to open sharply lower.
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