On Back Foot

Hawkish Fedspeak helped keep NZD/USD on the back foot Thursday, after the release of the FOMC's Dec meeting minutes on Wednesday fuelled expectations of an earlier, faster policy tightening. The rate fell to its worst levels since Dec 21, as the Antipodeans led losses in G10 FX space.

• Worth noting that Fitch affirmed New Zealand at AA with a positive outlook but noted that high household debt "remains a vulnerability." The rating agency said that they expect the RBNZ to raise the OCR by 75bp this year to continue their response to a sharp rise in inflation.
• New Zealand's economic docket for next week is rather thin, with building permits coming up Thursday.
• With NZD/USD last seen at $0.6745, just shy of neutral levels, bears look for a clean break below the $0.6703/02, which limited losses on Dec 15, 20 & 21. Bulls look to a rebound above $0.6857, which marks the high prints of Dec 30 & Jan 3.