NZD/USD: bullish above 0.7320, will it finally hold the bid?
- NZD/USD: best performer.
- NZD/USD: above key support and looking for a perch on 0.73 handle.
NZD/USD has been extending the upside recovery from the 0.7220's earlier in the month of March and the bird has crossed the descending trendline signifying it is perched higher for longer on the 0.73 handle. Currently, NZD/USD is trading at 0.7326, up 0.01% on the day, having posted a daily high at 0.7337 and low at 0.7323.
NZD was the outperformer on the NY session and it rose from 0.7310 to 0.7355 scoring a three-week high, while the main currency theme overnight was a weaker USD on the back of further change at the White House. Today’s Balance of Payments figures passed by with little focus as follows: New Zealand BoP current account balance (NZD) Q4: -2.77b (exp -2.45b; prev -4.68b), current account GDP ratio YTD Q4: -2.7% (exp -2.6%; prev -2.6%).
From the US session, attention was on the White House and the CPI data that came in lower than the prior and puts the inflationary story on to the shelf for the time being while markets continue to discount a fourth rate hike in 2018 after last week's wages miss. CPI showed headline consumer prices rising at an annualized 2.2% during February and 0.2% inter-month, but, taking out food and energy costs, CPI only rose 1.8% year/on year and by just 0.2% on a monthly basis vs 0.3% prior.
More on the Tillerson story here:
Funda wrap: White House's revolving door sends dollar and Tillerson packing
NZD/USD levels
Technically, the charts have turned bullish but repeated recovery failures on the 0.73 handle have been a theme of late, so closes need to occur above 0.7320 with the 21-D SMA falling in at 0.7200. 0.7360 is the next key upside target in the near term to open a run towards 0.7435 daily high double top.