REINZ See Property Price Growth Slowing, NZIER QSBO Shows Inflation Pressures Remain

NZD/USD traded sideways Monday, while liquidity and headline flow were limited by a U.S. holiday. Fresh rate cuts and data out of China drew attention, but ultimately failed to move the needle for NZD/USD. The pair finished the day marginally below neutral levels.

• With NZD/USD last sitting at $0.6796, a touch lower on the day, bears look for a sell-off past Jan 6 low of $0.6733. On the flip side, bulls would be pleased by a rally above Jan 13 high of $0.6891 would shift focus to the nearby $0.6900 mark.
• Director-General of Health Bloomfield told RNZ this morning that officials are investigating whether to "strengthen or adjust some of the settings in the different traffic light levels to take account of Omicron." As a reminder, New Zealand will review the traffic light system settings on Thursday.
• Commenting on REINZ residential data published this morning, the Institute's Chief Executive Baird said that “December was a solid close to a strong year for the New Zealand property market" but "we are noting signs of deceleration in annual price growth compared to previous months. While the market remains confident, the impact of rising interest rates, tighter lending criteria and changes to investor taxation restrictions are starting to shift dynamics."
• Meanwhile, NZIER's QSBO showed that "business confidence and demand fell as the COVID-19 outbreak dragged on." Businesses continue to face "acute labour shortages," which are "underpinning a lift in wage growth, and this is contributing to higher costs for businesses." The results of the survey pointed to "inflation pressures in the New Zealand economy remaining strong over the coming year."