- NZD/USD recovers its recent losses on Chinese economic figures.
- Weaker Kiwi’s CPI prompted traders to lower their expectations of a rate hike in November’s meeting by the RBNZ.
- US Dollar receives minor support from upbeat Retail Sales report.
NZD/USD stages a recovery from its recent losses, buoyed by robust Chinese data. As the early European session unfolds on Wednesday, the spot price trades higher, hovering around 0.5910.
Chinese Gross Domestic Product exceeded market consensus in the third quarter, reporting a growth of 1.3% compared to the anticipated 1.0%. The yearly based report for the same quarter revealed a 4.9% increase, surpassing the expected 4.4%.
Moreover, China’s Retail Sales (YoY) rose by 5.5%, surpassing both the previous figure of 4.6% and the expected 4.9%.
However, the NZD/USD pair faced resistance post-release of upbeat US Retail Sales, coupled with weaker consumer inflation data from New Zealand.
The headline CPI increased to 1.8% in the third quarter, falling short of the anticipated 2.0%. The yearly rate decelerated from 6.0% to 5.6%, missing consensus estimates of 5.9%. This data is prompting investors to lower their expectations for a November interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), exerting downward pressure on the NZD/USD pair.
The RBNZ introduced its Sectoral Factor Model Inflation gauge, revealing inflation figures at 5.2% YoY in Q3 2023. This marks a significant decline from the 5.7% recorded in Q2.
On the US front, Retail Sales surpassed expectations, rising to 0.7% in September compared to the projected 0.3%. The Retail Sales Control Group also saw a notable increase of 0.6% from the previous 0.2%. Additionally, Industrial Production in the US improved by 0.3%, contrary to the anticipated stagnation at 0.0%.
US Dollar Index (DXY) struggled to maintain intraday gains after positive Chinese data, hovering around 106.10, US Treasury yields improved, reaching 4.85% for the 10-year US Treasury bond, potentially supporting the Greenback.
Market participants are likely to seek more insights into the monetary policy trajectory of the Federal Reserve (Fed) following dovish remarks from several officials. On Tuesday, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin stated that the present policy is already deemed restrictive and expressed uncertainty about the upcoming FOMC monetary policy meeting in November.
Moreover, Neel Kashkari, the President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, noted that inflation has endured for a more prolonged duration than initially expected and remains at an excessively elevated level. This viewpoint is in line with the dovish stance upheld by several other Fed officials.
Investor focus is anticipated to center around US housing data and speeches from Fed officials on Wednesday. Furthermore, attention will turn to New Zealand’s Trade Balance on Friday.
