NZD/USD rushes up to the 0.5750 area as the US dollar loses ground

The kiwi bounces up at 0.5610 and rallies to 0.5755.
The US dollar drops amid Fed easing speculation.
NZD/USD is unlikely to consolidate above 0.5750 – UOB.

Guillermo Alcala FXStreet

The New Zealand dollar bounced up strongly at 0.5610 on Friday’s early US session to hit fresh two-week highs at 0.5765, favored by a broad-based US dollar weakness.

Fed easing speculation hits the US dollar

A news report by the Wall Street Journal published earlier on Friday has suggested that Fed officials would be open to debating the size of future hikes, pointing out to a step back on the tightening cycle in December has hammered the US Dollar.

The WSJ report offsets the positive impact of recent hawkish comments by Fed officials. Only on Thursday, Patrick Harker, The Philadelphia Fed President affirmed that the bank will "keep raising rates for a while."

Furthermore, a suspected intervention by the Japanese authorities has sent the yen surging across the board. The USD/JPY, as a result, has plunged more than 2.5% in a matter of minutes, which has reverberated on all USD crosses.

NZD/USD: More consolidation ahead– UOB

Analysts at UOB expect the pair to remain trading sideways over the next weeks, with upside attempts capped below 0.5755: “We highlighted yesterday that NZD ‘could rise above 0.5725 but a sustained advance above this level still appears unlikely’(…) “Our update from two days ago (18 Oct, spot at 0.5675) still stands. As highlighted, NZD appears to have moved into a consolidation phase and is likely to trade between 0.5570 and 0.5755 for the time being.”

Technical levels to watch

NZD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.5756
Today Daily Change	0.0077
Today Daily Change %	1.36
Today daily open	0.5679

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.5661
Daily SMA50	0.5934
Daily SMA100	0.6103
Daily SMA200	0.6393

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.5743
Previous Daily Low	0.5623
Previous Weekly High	0.573
Previous Weekly Low	0.5512
Previous Monthly High	0.6162
Previous Monthly Low	0.5565
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.5697
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.5669
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.562
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.5562
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.55
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.574
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.5802
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.586

Author

Guillermo Alcala

FXStreet

Graduated in Communication Sciences at the Universidad del Pais Vasco and Universiteit van Amsterdam, Guillermo has been working as financial news editor and copywriter in diverse Forex-related firms, like FXStreet and Kantox.

AUD/USD bulls regain control above 0.6950 amid USD retreat

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the previous day's bounce from the weekly low, aiming for 0.7000 in Asia on Friday. The overnight pullback in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar below an 18-month high, which in turn offers some support to the pair. Meanwhile, hawkish RBA expectations also keep the major underpinned.

USD/JPY holds gains near 158.00 after Japan's weak Household Spending data

USD/JPY clings to gains around 158.00 after data showed on Friday that Japan's Household Spending fell for the ninth straight month, undermining the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains depressed as the overnight fall in US bond yields counters a hawkish Fed and geopolitical uncertainties, could cap any downside in the pair.

Gold remains range-bound below $4,200

Gold has given up some ground after an initial bullish attempt to reach weekly highs, returning to below the $4,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The US Dollar’s strong upside momentum, combined with rising US Treasury yields across the curve, seems to keep further gains in the yellow metal under scrutiny.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?

The Euro is not the sick man of Europe. France's bond market is

EUR/USD remains under pressure, near the 17-month low of 1.1161 reached on Monday. The pair has lost more than 7% since its yearly peak, as concerns over France's public finances increasingly weigh on the single currency. But behind the weakness of the Euro (EUR), the problem does not necessarily lie with the European economy as a whole.