The strongest and weakest currencies as North American traders begin the trading day (April 13, 2015)

April 13, 2015: USD is strongest. AUD and NZD are the weakest.

The USD is the strongest currency has North American traders enter for the trading day in the trading week. The greenback is higher against all the major currency pairs. Higher interest rates are a catalyst for the demand for the dollar. The gains against the commodity currency pairs are the strongest aided by weaker than expected China trade data. Both imports and exports declined, which has traders looking for a continued slowing of China growth. China GDP is scheduled to be released tomorrow in the US at 10 PM ET (3 AM GMT).

China imports fell by -12.3% (est -11.3%), while exports fell by a surprising -14.6% from a year earlier (est. +8.2%). The AUD and the NZD were most impacted by the shortfall. In contrast to the USD, each of those currencies are each showing large declines against the major currency pairs today.

Below is a summary of the % changes of each currency pair vs each other. The biggest mover is the AUDGBP which has a 1.62% change on the day.