New Zealand Dollar Unable to Join Rally as Rates, Growth Dim

Fundamental Forecast for New Zealand Dollar: Bearish

- New Zealand growth sharply underperforms, drives the kiwi dollar lower
- NZDUSD advance can’t surpass resistance. Is this technical ceiling too much too conquer?

Risk appetite was ramped up this past week; and many assets capitalized on the improved sentiment. However, there was a distinct performance difference between those assets that rallied in the face of fundamental concerns and those that are natural optimism bedfellows due to their investment status. The former crowd marked true breakouts and showed an effort to jump start new trends while the latter struggled to extend their performance. The kiwi dollar has its feet in both pool; but that doesn’t mean the currency comes out with a net benefit. Against the worst performing unit though the period (the US dollar), the commodity currency has found itself walled in by 0.74 resistance. Heading into the new weeks, speculative interests have already passed the breakout phase and are now going to have to stir up momentum. Will the New Zealand unit find enough of a risk current to carry it to its own rally?

First and foremost, the concern for the kiwi is the intensity of risk trends. The remarkable breakout from the S&P 500 and EURUSD was perhaps the best catalyst the broader FX market could have asked for in terms of speculative leverage. Missing the opportunity to produce a critical break on NZDUSD through this momentum is a significant oversight. From here, speculative interest will be responsible for carrying optimism to new heights; and considering there are few legitimate sources for positive sentiment, the conviction that does develop will lack. Furthermore, we see that the relatively high-yield currency is sliding fast against the fundamentally-unstable euro, the pound and even the low-yield Japanese yen. If there isn’t a spark of demand from one of this pairs, there certainly won’t be a wave of kiwi buying across the broader market.

Another interesting assessment of the kiwi can be made in its comparison to the Aussie dollar. Both are investment currencies; but we have seen the RBA maintain a hawkish bias whereas the RBNZ this past week threw the breaks on its hawkish commentary. Furthermore, growth in Australia is still running at a robust pace as the gas station to China while New Zealand has seen its growth pace slashed. Yield isn’t the only concern for the markets at this point. The demand is for those investments that can produce the highest yield or have the greatest potential for appreciating from depressed levels. Why establish a yield position with the kiwi when the Aussie is more stable and maintains a higher yield? And, why go long the New Zealand dollar when it is already at marked highs and currencies like the euro are still significantly depressed. In the absence of overwhelming momentum for yield and risk, the kiwi may flounder.