S&P 500 Index Erases February Losses

New Zealand consumer confidence fell to 118.0 in March, down from 119.7 a month ago, according to ANZ (The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group). Consumer optimism regarding the short term economic outlook slipped to a five month low while the current conditions index fell to 120.8 in March. The lower optimism among consumers comes on the background of declines in global dairy trade and an increase in oil prices in New Zealand. In a separate report, New Zealand's job advertisements managed to grow at a moderate pace in February, recovering from the sharp declines in January. Job ads were up 0.90% in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, following -2.90% declines in January. Headwinds including the higher exchange rate and falling commodity prices continue to put pressure on the country’s economic momentum.

EURUSD which closed the week with strong gains turned slightly weaker into Friday's session. The Euro slipped in Friday's trading, closing at $1.1272 as the ECB's chief economist Peter Praet said that fresh rate cuts were still on the table. At the ECB's meeting on March 10th, Mario Draghi surprised investors by saying that he didn't expect to cut rates again after bringing the ECB's minimum bid rate to zero percent and the deposit rate to -0.4%. The comments sparked a rally in the Euro at the time. In an interview published on the ECB's website, Mr. Praet was quoted as saying "we have not reached the physical lower bound". The comments from the ECB's economist comes in a week where the US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged and signaled a slower pace of rate hikes. EURUSD briefly tested the highs above $1.13 for the second day in a row before closing lower for the day.