NZD Higher Against Most G10 Currencies, AUD/NZD Makes New Highs On CPI Beat

The Kiwi is one of the top performing G10 currencies today, only beaten by the NOK and AUD. Earlier New Zealand reported a trade surplus of $588mn after a deficit of $315mn as exports continue to recover while imports are weak, while the YTD deficit narrowed to $9.87bn from $12.06bn in February.

• NZD/USD is up 0.16% at 0.5941 after briefly testing key resistance at 0.5950. The longer term downward trend remains intact with the currency still trading below the 20, 50, 100 & 200-day EMAs, the 14-day RSI continues to tick up however still below 50 at 44. Initial resistance holds at 0.5950 area (Apr 15 highs/intraday highs), a break here would open a test of the 20-day EMA at 0.5961, while to the downside a break of 0.5890/0.5900 area would be needed to retest 0.5852 (Apr 18 lows)
• AUD/NZD is up 0.33% and has broken above recent cycle highs, to trade at 1.0970, after earlier making highs of 1.0984. The AU-NZ 2y swap is 12.5bps higher -77bps, while the 14-day RSI now sits in overbought territory at 71. A break above initial resistance at 1.1000 (round number), would be needed to test the yearly highs at 1.1056 (Jun 19th), while to the downside initial support lays at 1.0895 (20-day EMA).
• NZD/JPY is up 0.16% at 91.970, as the yen eyes lowest levels in 34 years vs the USD. The cross trades back above all major EMA indictors, while the 14-day RSI indicator has also just ticked back above 50 to 58 indicating buyers are back in control. Initial support is 91.15/35 (50 & 20-day EMA), while initial resistance is 92.00 (Apr 11 highs), with a break above here opening a retest of 92.371 (Apr 10 highs)
• Looking ahead, Public Holiday for AU & NZ markets on Thursday, with the next major data release NZ ANZ Consumer Confidence Index on Friday