NZD Weakens as Weaker-Than-Expected Chinese Data Hits
The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) weakened against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday, hitting around 0.5895 in Asian trading hours. This decline was largely due to weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data, which weighed heavily on China-proxy NZD.
According to official statistics from China's National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales grew by only 0.6% year-over-year in July, falling short of the estimated 1.5%. Industrial production also missed expectations, rising just 4.5% YoY after a 5.3% increase in June.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Volkmar Baur noted that while these data points suggest a pause in interest rate hikes following July's move, the RBNZ is likely to maintain a hawkish tone due to ongoing Middle East risks, providing some near-term support for the Kiwi. However, the long-term outlook remains uncertain.
From a technical perspective, the NZD/USD pair holds a constructive bullish bias but faces resistance at the Bollinger upper band around 0.5945.