21 Jan 2014
Asian Recap: Kiwi strengthens on early RBNZ rate hike
FXstreet.com (Bali) - The Japanese Yen was the main laggard in Asia, while the New Zealand Dollar topped the climbers.
The higher-than-expected CPI series in New Zealand (quarterly and yearly), saw the currency better bid during early Asia, and as a sign of confidence towards the Kiwi was the fact that most of the gains were either maintained or increased vs peers post release.
The inflation numbers in New Zealand reinforce the case for an early start of what is thought to be a prolonged hiking cycle by the RBNZ, with the starting date swinging between January and March.
The Japanese Yen was well offered throughout the session, with a higher Nikkei 225 (more than 1.5% gains) carrying the Yen crosses into higher territory for the week, with solid demand at the Tokyo fix coupled with an USD-supportive article by Fed watcher Hilsenrath providing further momentum. USD/JPY approaches Europe having broken its hourly cloud, a bullish technical development to bear in mind.
As per the Australian Dollar, with no fundamental news hitting the wires to provide directional bias, flows led to price being attracted by offers clustered around 0.8835/40 ahead of rumored stops 0.8850+. The early climb proved short-lived though, as well-camped sellers found it relatively easy to retreat the pair over 20/30 pips before stabilizing the price around 0.8810/15.
The rest of currencies traded on their usual tight ranges, so nothing new to report on other G10 FX. The next focus of attention will be Germany's ZEW economic survey sentiment in European hours.
Main headlines in Asia
New Zealand CPI reinforces RBNZ rate hike in Q1
NZ CPI strengthens case RBNZ to embark on substantial hiking cycle - Westpac
Fed watcher Hilsenrath tips further QE taper in January
PBoC injects liquidity to restore confidence - Nomura
RBNZ to hold rate hike cycle until March - RBS
The higher-than-expected CPI series in New Zealand (quarterly and yearly), saw the currency better bid during early Asia, and as a sign of confidence towards the Kiwi was the fact that most of the gains were either maintained or increased vs peers post release.
The inflation numbers in New Zealand reinforce the case for an early start of what is thought to be a prolonged hiking cycle by the RBNZ, with the starting date swinging between January and March.
The Japanese Yen was well offered throughout the session, with a higher Nikkei 225 (more than 1.5% gains) carrying the Yen crosses into higher territory for the week, with solid demand at the Tokyo fix coupled with an USD-supportive article by Fed watcher Hilsenrath providing further momentum. USD/JPY approaches Europe having broken its hourly cloud, a bullish technical development to bear in mind.
As per the Australian Dollar, with no fundamental news hitting the wires to provide directional bias, flows led to price being attracted by offers clustered around 0.8835/40 ahead of rumored stops 0.8850+. The early climb proved short-lived though, as well-camped sellers found it relatively easy to retreat the pair over 20/30 pips before stabilizing the price around 0.8810/15.
The rest of currencies traded on their usual tight ranges, so nothing new to report on other G10 FX. The next focus of attention will be Germany's ZEW economic survey sentiment in European hours.
Main headlines in Asia
New Zealand CPI reinforces RBNZ rate hike in Q1
NZ CPI strengthens case RBNZ to embark on substantial hiking cycle - Westpac
Fed watcher Hilsenrath tips further QE taper in January
PBoC injects liquidity to restore confidence - Nomura
RBNZ to hold rate hike cycle until March - RBS