|

NZD/USD: A lower beta to AUD – ING

The New Zealand dollar has shown resilience compared to its Australian counterpart, as markets see less tariff risk for NZ. Despite the RBNZ’s dovish stance—potentially delivering up to 75bp in cuts—NZD is behaving like a lower-beta version of the AUD in response to trade headlines, ING’s FX analysts Francesco Pesole and Chris Turner note.

NZD shields itself better than AUD amid tariff risks

"Markets have consolidated the view that the New Zealand dollar is not as exposed to tariffs as AUD. That’s due to Australia’s largest reliance on China demand. New Zealand exports more than Australia to the US in GDP terms (2.2% vs 0.9%), but both countries were only hit by the base 10% tariff rate even before the 90-day pause." 

"The Reserve Bank of New Zealand remains very open to cutting rates again. We expect either 50bp or 75bp of additional easing, with a bias towards 75bp as the Bank has shown much more focus on growth than inflation."

"Front-end rates aren’t affecting FX much anyway. We expect NZD to continue trading as a lower beta version of AUD when it comes to trade headlines."

Author

FXStreet Insights Team

The FXStreet Insights Team is a group of journalists that handpicks selected market observations published by renowned experts. The content includes notes by commercial as well as additional insights by internal and external analysts.

More from FXStreet Insights Team
Share:

Markets move fast. We move first.

Orange Juice Newsletter brings you expert driven insights - not headlines. Every day on your inbox.

By subscribing you agree to our Terms and conditions.

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD bounces toward 1.1750 as US Dollar loses strength

EUR/USD returned to the 1.1750 price zone in the American session on Friday, despite falling Wall Street, which indicates risk aversion. Trading conditions remain thin following the New Year holiday and ahead of the weekend, with the focus shifting to US employment and European data scheduled for next week.

GBP/USD nears 1.3500, holds within familiar levels

After testing 1.3400 on the last day of 2025, GBP/USD managed to stage a rebound. Nevertheless, the pair finds it difficult to gather momentum and trades with modest intraday gains at around 1.3490 as market participants remain in holiday mood.

Gold trims intraday gains, approaches $4,300

Gold retreated sharply from the $4,400  area and trades flat for the day in the $4,320 price zone. Choppy trading conditions exacerbated the intraday decline, although XAU/USD bearish case is out of the picture, considering growing expectations for a dovish Fed and persistent geopolitical tensions.

Breaking: US Trump strikes Venezuela, claims President Maduro was captured and flown out of the country

United States (US) President Donald Trump has fulfilled his threats and finally struck Venezuela. Different media reports that explosions in Caracas began around 1:50 am local time on Saturday, leaving multiple areas of the city without power.

Economic outlook 2026-2027 in advanced countries: Solidity test

After a year marked by global economic resilience and ending on a note of optimism, 2026 looks promising and could be a year of solid economic performance. In our baseline scenario, we expect most of the supportive factors at work in 2025 to continue to play a role in 2026.

Crypto market outlook for 2026

Year 2025 was volatile, as crypto often is.  Among positive catalysts were favourable regulatory changes in the U.S., rise of Digital Asset Treasuries (DAT), adoption of AI and tokenization of Real-World-Assets (RWA).