NZD/USD surges 20+ pips on upbeat New Zealand GDP data

Better than forecast New Zealand GDP data added strength into the NZD/USD pair as it is on the bids near 0.65555 during early Thursday.

The Q1 2019 GDP matched 0.6% forecast and prior mark on a quarterly basis but grew past 2.4% expectations to print upwardly revised prior of 2.5%.

While the latest optimism surrounding the US-China trade talks have already pleased the Kiwi buyers, the US Fed’s shift to join rest of the global central bank bears offered additional strength to the buying sentiment. Though, traders were little cautious ahead of the first quarter (Q1) gross domestic product (GDP) data.

With the first quarter NZ GDP already out and loud, investors may now look for Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) Governor Phillip Lowe’s speech to take clues for further monetary easing by the central bank of New Zealand’s largest customer.

Post that, second-tier US data and further news about how the US and China could go on a trade talk at G20 will grab the limelight.

Technical Analysis

Buyers look for a sustained break above the post-Fed high of 0.6563 in order to aim for 50-day simple moving average (SMA) level of 0.6600. Though, sustained break of 0.6600 could help escalate the latest recovery towards the monthly top of 0.6682.

Alternatively, 0.6500 and 0.6480 seem nearby support ahead of October 2018 bottom surrounding 0.6465.