ECB Announces Fresh Stimulus Package in Attempt to Revive Eurozone Economy

The AUDUSD opens at 0.6863 (mid-rate) and the NZDUSD opens at 0.6405 (mid-rate) this morning.

Late last night European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced a fresh stimulus package in an attempt to revive the Euro-zone’s flagging economy.

As expected the ECB slashed the deposit rate by 10 basis points to -0.50% while leaving the main refinancing rate and the marginal lending rate unchanged at 0.00% and 0.25%, respectively.

Mr Draghi also announced the Central bank will reintroduce quantitative easing (QE) which will entail 20 billion euros per month of net asset purchases for as long as it deems necessary. The 20 billion euros per month was below economist’s forecasts of between 30 and 50 billion euros per month, but the open ended commitment to the programme has had a positive effect on markets.

This morning a senior White House official told CNBC the US is "absolutely not" considering an interim trade deal, the denial came after  Bloomberg News reported Trump administration officials have discussed offering an interim trade agreement to China. The article said the limited trade agreement would delay and even roll back some US tariffs in exchange for Chinese commitments on intellectual property and agricultural purchases.

US Treasury yields are again pushing higher after The US Labour Department reported its consumer price index ticked up by 0.1% with core prices which exclude food and energy prices rising 0.3% to an 11-year high of 2.4% in August. The result casts further doubt on how necessary it is for the Fed to cut rates aggressively.

Global equity markets are positive - Dow+0.55%, S&P 500 +0.52%, FTSE+0.09%, DAX +0.41%, CAC +0.44%, Nikkei+0.75%, Shanghai +0.75%.

Gold prices are little changed trading at $1,498 an ounce. WTI Crude Oil prices are down 1.6% to $54.82 a barrel.

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Mid-Market Rates

AUDUSD0.68630.1%NZDUSD0.6405-0.2%AUDEUR0.6202-0.5%NZDEUR0.5788-0.6%AUDGBP0.55630.0%NZDGBP0.5192-0.2%AUDJPY74.25-2.2%NZDJPY69.260.2%AUDNZD1.07150.2%NZDAUD0.9332-0.2%GBPAUD1.79760.0%NZDCAD0.84630.0% GBPNZD1.9260.2%
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