NZ Services Sector Remains In Contraction, NZIER Report Sees NZ GDP Forecast Revised Lower

NZD/USD has edged higher in early Asia-Pac trade, after pulling back under its 50-DMA into the end of last week, amid a continued rally in U.S. Tsy yields. The pair last sits at $0.7184, 8 pips better off.

• New Zealand's Performance of Services Index registered in contractionary territory for the fourth month in a row, even as it improved a tad to 49.1 in Feb from the revised 48.0 recorded in Jan. BNZ said that "there is good reason to believe the PSI can bounce in Mar, because Feb was beset by the latest rash of lockdowns," but "we remain decidedly cautious on GDP growth for Q1."
• NZIER released their quarterly Consensus Forecasts, with economists now expecting 2020/21 GDP contracting 2.6% Y/Y rather than 4.8% as predicted earlier. The growth forecast for 2021/22 was revised to +4.8% Y/Y from +5.4%.
• January saw New Zealand's annual net immigration fall to the lowest level since May 2014, with 33,179 people arriving in the country in the 12 months through Jan 2021.
• A rally through Mar 11 high of $0.7241 would allow bulls to set their sights on Mar 2 high of $0.7307. Conversely, bears need a retreat under Mar 12 low of $0.7151 before taking aim at Mar 5 low/100-DMA at $0.7100/0.7093.
• Looking ahead, New Zealand's credit card spending comes out on Tuesday, BoP current account balance is due Wednesday, while GDP hits the wires on Thursday.