Holds Steady As New Zealand Scrutinises Strong Retail Sales Print Released Monday

AUD/NZD rangebound this morning, last trades flat at NZ$1.0506. On the downside, focus falls on Nov 24 low of NZ$1.0473, the worst level since mid-Apr. A dip through that level would open up the round figure/61.8% retracement of the Mar 18 - Aug 18 rally at NZ$1.0400/1.0396. On the flip side, a jump above Nov 25 high of NZ$1.0563 would give bulls a green light for targeting the NZ$1.0600 mark, followed by the 23.6% recovery of the Aug 18 - Nov 24 sell-off at NZ$1.0608.

• New Zealand's ANZ Consumer Confidence eased off to 106.9 from 108.7, with ANZ commenting that "the key retail spending indicator in the survey is still very weak, suggesting the sharp overshoot in retail sales seen in Q3 is likely to fade relatively quickly".
• NZ Treasury published the weekly economic update, noting that the strong Q3 retail sales print indicates a rebound in real private consumption and "poses upside risk to our pre-election forecasts of 12.0% growth" for Q3 GDP. The document emphasised that "uncertainty remains around how long the strength in spending can last".
• Across the Tasman, Sino-Australian tensions continue to provide interest, with participants scrutinising conflicting pieces from the Global Times and the AFR on ongoing bilateral trade spat.