Forex
Home›Forex›Major Pairs›NZ dollar edges up versus USD as Fed hike bets keep do…
NZ dollar edges up versus USD as Fed hike bets keep dollar supported
NZD/USD is around 0.5790 after rebounding from a one-and-a-half-week low, with US Dollar support tied to Middle East tensions and softer US jobless claims hitting 187K.
FXStreet reports NZD/USD traded near 0.5790 on Friday, up 0.27% on the day, as the pair recovers from a one-and-a-half-week low. The NZ dollar’s rebound appears capped by persistent US Dollar strength.
The US currency has drawn support, the outlet says, from rising geopolitical tensions after the United States carried out another round of military strikes against Iran, followed by Iran and allied attacks on US-linked assets. FXStreet also points to increased shipping-route disruption in the Red Sea and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, factors that have pushed energy prices higher and revived inflation concerns.
Those developments feed into expectations, according to FXStreet, that the Federal Reserve could keep policy restrictive for longer and potentially deliver another interest rate hike before the end of the year. The dollar also received additional support after Initial Jobless Claims fell to 187K on Thursday, beating expectations and reinforcing views of a resilient US labor market.
On the New Zealand side, FXStreet says the NZ dollar has found support after stronger-than-expected inflation data boosted expectations that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will keep tightening, with markets still pricing another rate increase at the September meeting. Into the weekend, traders are set to focus on US S&P Global preliminary PMI data for further clues on inflation ahead of next week’s FOMC meeting.