Offshore Covid Developments Clip Kiwi's Wings

NZD trades lower at the start to the week, mostly due to offshore developments. Official PMI readings released out of China underwhelmed, showing a wider slowdown in expansion across m'fing & non-m'fing sectors than expected, with the latter taking a heavier hit from the resurging coronavirus. In Australia, the city of Perth declared a five-day lockdown after finding a new Covid-19 case. Meanwhile, familiar worries over the spread of new Covid-19 strains & questions surrounding vaccine rollouts continue to provide a broader source of worry. NZD/USD has shed 35 pips so far and last trades at $0.7157.

• In local news: NZ gov't responded to the opinion of the Climate Change Commission that NZ should ramp up efforts to reduce its greennhouse gas emissions by pledging to "pick up the pace."
• Opposition leader Collins confirmed that her National Party will run candidates in Maori seats in the 2023 general election for the first time in 20 years.
• Bears set their sights on the ascending 50-DMA, which provides the initial layer of support at $0.7130. A clean break here would open up Jan 28/18 lows of $0.7106/0.7096. On the topside, a rally through trendline resistance at $0.7231 would expose Jan 26 high of $0.7248.
• Coming up in NZ this week we have CoreLogic House Price Index (could hit any time today), labour market report (Wednesday) as well as building permits & flash ANZ Business Confidence (Thursday).