NZD/USD mildly bid amid risk-off in Asian equities

• The NZD is flashing marginal gains despite risk aversion.
• Asian stocks are on the defensive, courtesy of escalating trade tensions.  
• Conflicting chart signals leave the NZD/USD in a no man’s land.

The NZD/USD is reporting marginal gains in Asia, despite the risk-off tone in the Asian equities, but is still trapped in a no man’s land of 0.6565-0.6556.

As of writing, the pair is trading at 0.6533, representing a 0.17 percent rise on the day. Meanwhile, the Asian stocks are trading on the defensive. For instance, the Shanghai Composite is currently down 0.17 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 0.78 percent.

The risk aversion in the Chinese stocks could be associated with the escalating trade tensions – Trump is reportedly considering announcing tariffs on all remaining Chinese goods in early December if talks with Xi on Nov 30-Dec 1 don’t produce any results.

However, stocks in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea are flashing green and are likely helping the NZD remain bid.

Still, the bulls are cautioned against being too ambitious as the pair is yet to take out the previous day’s high of 0.6556. A bull reversal would be confirmed only above that level. On the other hand, 0.6465 – low of Friday’s long-tailed doji is the level to beat for the bears.

NZD/USD Technical Levels

Resistance: 0.6556 (yesterday’s high), 0.6611 (Oct. 22 high), 0.6688 (July 3 low)

Support: 0.65 (psychological support), 0.6465 (Friday’s low), 0.6424 (Oct. 8 low)