AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast – NZ Quarterly Consumer Inflation Expected to Rise 0.2%

The Australian and New Zealand Dollars traded higher on Thursday, putting them in a position to challenge their recent multi-year highs as solid domestic data indicated continued economic recovery, while strong risk sentiment suggested investors were banking on the United States to provide more stimulus to help revive the global economy.

At 21:15 GMT, the AUD/USD is trading .7763, up 0.0017 or +0.22% and the NZD/USD is at .7203, up 0.0032 or +0.45%.

Australian Dollar Recap

Early in the session, the Aussie received a boost after Australian data showed 50,000 net new jobs were added in December. The economy has now recovered more than 90% of the losses suffered during the coronavirus lockdowns last year.

The jobless rate dropped to a seven-month low of 6.6%, though that remains well above the pre-pandemic level of 5.2%.

That outlook has helped hold 10-year bond yield yields back at 1.04% and off a recent seven-month top of 1.118%.

New Zealand Dollar Recap

New Zealand yields had also eased back to 1.03%, from a recent peak of 1.13%, though markets have still greatly scaled back the chance of any further policy easing given the surprising strength of the domestic economy, Reuters reported.

Westpac Changes Its RBNZ Outlook

Westpac on Thursday ditched its calls for two more rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) and forecast rates would be held at 0.25% for the foreseeable future, Reuters reported.

Westpac also expects the RBNZ will gradually taper the pace of bond purchases over the course of the year to around NZ$500 million, from the recent average of NZ$800 million.

Daily Forecast

At 21:45 GMT, New Zealand Dollar traders will get the opportunity to react to the latest Quarterly Consumer Price Index data from the Statistics New Zealand. According to economists, the report is expected to show a reading of 1%, as compared to the figure of the month before of 1.4%.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.