Cabinet To Review Covid Alert Levels

NZD/USD sticks to a tight range in early Asia-Pac trade, as participants assess developments from over the weekend. New Zealand's Cabinet will review its tentative decision to lower coronavirus alert levels this week and PM Ardern will announce the final verdict at 13:00 NZST. With domestic focus fixed on alert level reviews, NZD/USD trades flat at $0.6758.

• Ministers will have to take into consideration a somewhat peculiar case detected over the weekend. A man who completed a two-week quarantine at an official isolation facility and returned two negative tests subsequently infected two household contacts.
• It is widely believed that the odds of New Zealand moving to alert level 1 are fairly high, but there is debate over what will happen to Auckland's level, currently set at 2.5.
• Meanwhile, the main opposition National Party officially launched its election campaign (they have been unveiling various policy proposals over the last weeks). The ruling Labour Party retains a comfortable lead in public opinion polls.
• After printing its best levels since Apr 4, 2019 last Friday, bulls look for gains past that day's peak located at $0.6798. A break here would open up Apr 1, 2019 high of $0.6837. Bears need a fall through Sep 17 low of $0.6675 before targeting Sep 10 low of $0.6639.
• New Zealand's credit card spending data headlines today, with trade balance coming up on Thursday. On Wednesday, the RBNZ will announce their monetary policy review.