NZD bore the brunt of Covid-19-inspired risk...>

KIWI: NZD bore the brunt of Covid-19-inspired risk aversion Tuesday, falling to

the bottom of the G10 pile. Rising case counts across the world prompted

participants to seek safety. NZD/USD finished 19 pips shy of neutral levels

despite paring some losses into the WMR fix in the wake of a miss in U.S.

consumer confidence print.

- The pair deals at $0.6318, virtually unchanged on the day. A dip below

$0.6303, the Feb 21 multi-month low, would expose the Oct 16 low of $0.6241.

Bulls look for a jump above Tuesday's peak at $0.6359, towards the Feb 20 high

of $0.6395.

- NZIER released their quarterly economic predictions, saying that domestic

economy faces a "short, sharp shock" on the back of the Covid-19 outbreak &

drought. The Institute expects NZ annual GDP growth to slow to 1.1% in Q1 before

recovering to 2.5% by end-year. Elsewhere, Goldman lowered their NZ 2020 GDP

growth forecast to +2.3% from +2.5%.

- NZ trade balance & ANZ biz. conf. hit on Thurs, ANZ cons. conf. is due Friday.