NZD/USD gains ground and threatens the 20-day SMA, upside limited

NZD/USD is seeing 0.30% gains and rose to 0.5915.
Inflation accelerated in August, driven by higher gasoline prices.
US yields initially soared to two-week highs and then consolidated.
Fed tightening expectations are still high.

Patricio Martín FXStreet

In Wednesday’s session, the NZD/USD increased towards 0.5915, near the 20-day SMA of 0.5922. That being said, the upside potential during the session is limited by the US Dollar holding its foot after the release of hot inflation readings from the US.

In August, the US saw a surge in inflation, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing by 3.7% YoY, up from 3.2% in July, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This exceeded market expectations of 3.6%, while the monthly figure matched forecasts at 0.6%. The core annual reading eased to 4.3% from July's 4.7%, matching expectations.

The initial reaction was a spike of the US 2-year Treasury yield to 5.08%, it highest in over two weeks, and then consolidated near 5%. The 5 and 10-year rates saw similar movements and are consolidating at 4.41% and 4.28%. In line with that, yields remain high as, according to the CME FedWatch tool, markets still price in high odds of one last hike in November or December by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

Attention now shifts to Thursday’s Producer Price Index (PPI) figures from August from the US, which will guide investors in modelling their expectations for the next Fed meetings.

NZD/USD Levels to watch

The NZD/USD daily chart analysis points to a bearish sentiment for the short term. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is situated below its midline while the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) prints flat green bars, signifying that despite gaining some traction, the bull’s momentum is still weak. Additionally, the pair is below the 20,100 and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), indicating that the bears are still in command on the broader picture.

Supports: 0.5900, 0.5890, 0.5850.
Resistances: 0.5922 (20-day SMA), 0.5930, 0.5960.

NZD/USD Daily Chart

NZD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.5916
Today Daily Change	0.0012
Today Daily Change %	0.20
Today daily open	0.5904

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.5925
Daily SMA50	0.607
Daily SMA100	0.6119
Daily SMA200	0.6207

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.5931
Previous Daily Low	0.5889
Previous Weekly High	0.5961
Previous Weekly Low	0.5847
Previous Monthly High	0.6219
Previous Monthly Low	0.5885
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.5905
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.5915
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.5885
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.5866
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.5843
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.5927
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.595
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.5969

Author

Patricio Martín

FXStreet

Patricio is an economist from Argentina passionate about global finance and understanding the daily movements of the markets.

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