USD Softens, NZD/USD Through Friday Highs

Early USD impetus has been to the downside in Monday Asia Pac trade. The BBDXY was last near 1243, down close to 0.10%.

• With US markets shut later today there is no cash Tsy trading today. Tsy futures are unchanged in terms of TYH4 at this stage. US equity futures are marginally higher, lending some support to higher beta plays in the FX space.
• NZD/USD is up over 0.20% and the best performer in G10 FX. We were last 0.6135/40, which is marginally above Friday highs. This puts us back through the 20 and 50-day EMAs, although we haven't been able to sustain such breaches from earlier in Feb.
• Headlines cross earlier from local bank BNZ that it has pushed back the timing of RBNZ cuts to Nov from August. On the data front, the services PMI rose to 52.1 from 48.8.
• AUD/USD has climbed as well, last near 0.6540, trailing only NZD marginally at this stage.
• USD/JPY is back close to the 150.00 level, off around 0.10% versus end Friday levels. Core machine orders data was close to expectations for Dec. A Reuters source piece from late last week around the likelihood of NIRP exit in coming months (despite the H2 2023 recession) has likely helped at the margins from a yen sentiment standpoint.
• There is little in the way of further event risks today. The onshore China market return will be eyed, with local equities expected to rise, which could support FX risk appetie.