NZD/USD falls as US Dollar strengthens, RBNZ rate hike delayed
The post NZD/USD falls as US Dollar strengthens, RBNZ rate hike delayed appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
NZD/USD trades lower around 0.5920 on Thursday at the time of writing, down 0.32% on the day, as the pair remains under pressure from a broadly firmer US Dollar (USd) and shifting expectations around New Zealand’s monetary policy outlook. The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) remains weak after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) decided to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.25% at its February meeting. The decision was accompanied by a cautious tone from Governor Anna Breman, who indicated that the domestic economy still has room to recover without generating excessive inflationary pressure. This message reinforced expectations that the central bank is in no hurry to tighten policy again. Market pricing for a first rate hike has now been pushed back to December at the earliest, marking a clear shift compared with expectations prior to the meeting. At the same time, the US Dollar continues to benefit from resilient macroeconomic data in the United States (US). The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback against a basket of six major currencies, trades near 99.00, up 0.15% on Thursday, although it has pared part of its earlier gains. Recent economic indicators have prompted investors to scale back expectations for aggressive monetary easing from the Federal Reserve (Fed). Data released on Wednesday showed that the private sector added 63,000 jobs in February, according to the ADP Employment Change report, well above the 50,000 forecast and sharply higher than the previous revised reading of 11,000. Additional indicators also point to underlying economic resilience. The ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 56.1, beating expectations for a decline to 53.5 from January’s 53.8. Earlier in the week, the ISM Manufacturing PMI survey revealed that the Prices Paid component surged to 70.5 in February, far exceeding the 59.5 consensus and…
Filed under: News - @ March 5, 2026 1:26 pm