NZD/USD climbs to fresh 9-day highs above 0.6100

• NZD/USD is posting gains for third straight day.
• ANZ Monthly Inflation Gauge slumped to -0.8% in April.
• FOMC will release the minutes of its September meeting at 1800 GMT.

After closing the first two days of the week in the positive territory, the NZD/USD pair continued its climb on Wednesday and touched its highest level in nine days at 0.6125. As of writing, the pair was up 0.71% on a daily basis at 0.6117.

Earlier in the day, the ANZ Monthly Inflation Gauge in New Zealand plunged to -0.8% for April from 0.1% in March but was largely ignored by the market participants.

Meanwhile, the broad-based selling pressure surrounding the greenback helped NZD/USD preserve its bullish momentum. 

Focus shifts to FOMC minutes

The US Dollar Index, which tracks the USD’s performance against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.15% on the day at 99.43. In the absence of significant fundamental drivers, the upbeat market mood since the start of the week seems to be making it difficult for the USD find demand as a safe-haven.

In the second half of the day, the FOMC will publish the minutes of its April 28-29 meeting. Previewing this event, “the minutes are likely to have a gloomy cast as the initial jobless claims numbers of the first three weeks of the month that had just outlined the depth of the historic unemployment disaster were fresh and unmitigated,” said FXStreet analyst Joseph Trevisani. “Any positive mention of negative rates or compliments for European policies could be damaging to the US dollar.”

Technical levels to watch for