- NZD/USD ignores China’s downbeat Caixin Services PMI for February.
- NZ data also eased earlier in the day after bulls cheered weaker USD, NZ GDT figures on Tuesday.
- Sluggish market sentiment ahead of the key data/events probe traders.
NZD/USD stays unaffected during its three-day upbeat, currently around 0.7300, following China’s weaker-than-expected data amid Wednesday’s Asian session. The reason could be traced from mixed risk catalysts and downbeat NZ data, published earlier in the day.
China’s Caixin Services PMI eases from 52.0 to 51.5 during February. In doing so, the Chinese activity numbers mark sustained weakness for the previous month as not only the private survey data but official figures are also weak.
Elsewhere, New Zealand Building Permits for January eased from upwardly revised 5.9% to 2.1% whereas February’s ANZ Commodity Price Index dropped below 3.6% prior to 3.3% earlier in Asia.
It’s worth mentioning that New Zealand’s GDT Price Index rose to the highest since September 2015 while flashing a 15.0% mark in its latest reading versus 3.0% prior on Tuesday. Further details suggest the average prices of the Whole Milk Powder (WMP) rose to the seven-year top of USD4,364/MT on Tuesday.
Talking about risks US President Joe Biden’s vaccine optimism joins hopes of an easy budget from the UK and hopes of a rate cut from the Chinese central bank to favor the bulls. However, cautious sentiment ahead of speech from Fed Chair Powell, US employment figures and the UK budget, not to forget US stimulus updates, keep the risks sluggish.
Amid these plays, S&P 500 Futures seesaw around 3,870, up 0.20% intraday whereas the US 10-year Treasury yields look for fresh clues to overcome the 1.41% level.
Moving on, a light calendar ahead of the US ISM Services PMI and ADP Employment Change can keep disappointing the momentum traders. However, risk catalysts may play their roles.
Technical analysis
Sellers are less likely to enter unless witnessing a daily closing below an ascending trend line from December 21, currently around 0.7195. As a result, bulls are up for challenging the area surrounding highs marked in January and touched twice last month, around 0.7320.
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