Pound Soars to Six Month High

Despite the Pound's latest rise, it remains -15.00% below the level it was trading prior to the “Brexit” vote. The currency's rise has also caused huge volatility in the benchmark FTSE 100, with the index diving -2.50% on Tuesday, the biggest one-day drop since the UK referendum decision to leave the European Union. The Pound swung within a wide range, touching a low of $1.2515 earlier yesterday, before hitting a six-month high of $1.2763.

Since the decision took most investors by surprise, volatility should remain high as they digest the effects of an early election. The Pound's rally suggests investors believe May will win a comfortable majority in the House of Commons. In the meantime, GBPUSD is holding strong just below the prior session’s high, with the pair last seen around 1.2835.

After a deceleration during the middle of 2016, New Zealand's services sector continued its most recent expansionary streak in March. The BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) reported overnight gained 0.3 points to 59.0 last month from the downwardly revised 58.7 in February - the second biggest expansion in the last 18 months.

All of the 5 sub-indices managed to remain above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction. Notably, new orders increased at their fastest pace since June 2007. The three-month average of the PSI surged to 59.0, its highest reading since 2007. The composite index, which merges the PSI and the manufacturing index, increased 0.8 points from February on a GDP-weighted basis to 59.0 in March. Adding to optimism was the significant 3.10% increase recorded by the GlobalDairyTrade Price Index. Nevertheless, NZDUSD is lower on the session, with the pair retreating below 0.7025.