- NZD/USD meets with aggressive supply after the RBNZ decides to maintain the status quo.
- The sharp intraday downfall seems rather unaffected by the lack of any USD buying interest.
- Traders now look to RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr’s presser for some meaningful impetus.
The NZD/USD pair attracts heavy selling after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) announced its policy decision and dives to over a one-week low in the last hour. Spot prices currently trade around the 0.6120 region and seem vulnerable to prolonging the recent retracement slide from over a one-month peak touched last week.
As was anticipated, the RBNZ decided to keep the Official Cash Rate (OCR) steady at 5.50% for the fifth time in a row at the end of the February policy meeting. This seems to have disappointed some investors anticipating further tightening in the wake of still-sticky inflation and turns out to be a key factor exerting downward pressure on the New Zealand Dollar (NZD). The focus now shifts to RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr’s press conference at 02:00 GMT, which should infuse some volatility and produce short-term trading opportunities around the NZD/USD pair.
In the meantime, bulls seem rather unaffected by subdued US Dollar (USD) price action, which continues with its struggle to gain any meaningful traction amid the looming US government shutdown. Apart from this, Tuesday’s disappointing release of the US Durable Goods Orders and a softer tone surrounding the US Treasury bond yields keep the USD bulls on the defensive, albeit does little to lend any support to the NZD/USD pair. This, in turn, suggests that the path of least resistance for spot prices is to the downside and validates the near-term negative outlook.
