Over the past couple weeks, New Zealand's kiwi has not been performing to the expectations investors expected. Analysts expected another 25 bp rate hike on Tuesday, but they were surprised by a 50 bp hike that took the interest rate up to 1.50%. So, why isn't NZD taking off right now? Here are some factors for and against buying kiwi.
Like the above statements, the Regional Bank of New Zealand decided to push past expectations of the original 25 basis point hike this month. This caused a drastic rise in kiwi's demand followed by a stark sell off in the moments after. A quicker rush to tighten monetary policy could be a good sign for bullish kiwi investors as the currency is outpacing other major countries.
New Zealand is also looking at a potential shift into recovery mode regarding the GDP growth rate. The second half of 2021 actually reported a decline of -0.20% after a significant rise of nearly 18% in the first half of that year. In 2022 so far, their GDP saw a positive rise in the growth rate.
If NZ can continue this kind of performance on top of the higher interest rates, it would be hard to find a reason not to consider going long on the kiwi.
Considering the factors above, there is a chance that investors may be worried that the more aggressive monetary stance will start to place hindrances on the economy. Investors want to see economic growth, an increase in spending, etc. However, with much higher interest rates than expected in a shorter amount of time, this could lead to a slow in growth as people stop spending as much and begin saving more.
The Kiwi is also not gaining much institutional interest overall. COT data shows us that big money reduced their long positions while increasing their stakes in contract shorts. Overall open interest was not impressive either, so it seems like institutions are not here to cause any major shifts in direction and we may have to rely on short term retail transactions. Having said that, it looks like retail is mixed.
Retail is majority long on this pair as it has been on an uptrend since February. Price has bounced off support on the 1D timeframe, and now it faces resistance around a falling trend line. An important thing to look for here is a break and close above that trend line which would indicate further highs.
This pair looks like it doesn't have much bullish potential to finishing out this week. Price action on today's candle suggests a further move to the downside as support lies around 0.67114. The overall trend since February is up, however. So, we could see a continuation of this move in the coming months. For the rest of this week, at least, I see the pair moving down to that level of support before finding a bottom.
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