NZD/USD sticks to strong intraday gains above mid-0.6400s, over one-month high

The NZD/USD pair attracts fresh buying following an early dip to the 0.6375 area and jumps to over a one-month high during the latter part of the Asian session on Wednesday. The pair is currently placed around mid-0.6400s, up nearly 0.40% for the day, and has now moved well within the striking distance of a multi-month peak touched in December.

The mostly upbeat Chinese macro data released on Monday, along with more stimulus measures announced by the Chinese government, fueled optimism over a strong recovery in the world's second-largest economy. This, in turn, boosts investors' confidence, which benefits the risk-sensitive Kiwi and provides a goodish lift to the NZD/USD pair. The momentum seems rather unaffected by resurgent US Dollar demand, bolstered by the Bank of Japan-inspired sell-off in the Japanese Yen.

The USD strength, meanwhile, remains limited amid firming expectations for a less aggressive policy tightening by the Fed. In fact, the markets now seem convinced that the US central bank will soften its hawkish stance amid signs of easing inflationary pressure and have been pricing in a smaller 25 bps rate hike in February. This leads to a fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields, which should act as a headwind for the buck and favours the NZD/USD bulls.

Even from a technical perspective, sustained strength beyond the top end of a one-and-half-week-old trading range supports prospects for a further near-term appreciating move for the NZD/USD pair. Hence, some follow-through move up, back towards reclaiming the 0.6500 psychological mark, now looks like a distinct possibility. Traders now look to the US economic docket, highlighting the Producer Price Index and monthly Retail Sales, for a fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch