Kiwi Grinds Lower, New Zealand Wakes Up To Lower Alert Level

After a bout of volatility seen in the wake of the RBA's monetary policy decision Tuesday, NZD/USD ground lower, as a softer commodity complex and a post-holiday jump in U.S. Tsy yields applied pressure to the pair. The 200-DMA gave way but the rate struggled to pierce its 100-DMA.

• All parts of New Zealand outside of Auckland have moved to alert level 2 overnight but some businesses have voiced dismay with the newly tightened level 2 rules. The decision to lower the alert level was made at the Cabinet meeting Monday.
• In their latest House Price Index report, QV noted that "the average value increased 3.3% nationally over the past three-month period to the end of August, down from the 4.3% quarterly growth we saw in July". QV General Manager Nagel said that "it's difficult to see the housing market return to anything like the growth levels seen over the past couple of years".
• On the radar this week we have New Zealand's manufacturing activity data (Thursday) and card spending (Friday).
• With NZD/USD last seen at $0.7100, virtually unchanged on the day, bears look for a sell-off past the 100-DMA at $0.7083. This would clear the way to the 50-DMA, which intersects at $0.6996. Bulls need a break above Sep 3 high of $0.7170 to regain poise.