AUD/NZD: Bad News For The Kiwi, Technicals Still In Play

 | Jan 30, 2014 06:37AM ET

The AUD/NZD cross this morning was tipped to be the big one to watch as the RBNZ was set to announce its rates. A lot of people picked a rate rise, or at least one very soon or perhaps next month – I’ll admit, even I was expecting something – the reality was far from what most expected though.

The RBNZ decided against lifting rates at this present time due to the current market conditions, and as they wanted inflation to lift slightly further in the 2% range; which they expect will happen in he coming months. All around though, the RBNZ yet again talked up the economic strength of the New Zealand economy, ‘as GDP grew 3.5 percent in the year to September’. This number is expected to keep on going into the new year and at least till the end, as the Christchurch rebuild weighs heavily on GDP growth.

Despite no talk about the currency conditions, one has to wonder if this also played a part. As the current government has been vocal about the high AUDNZD cross rate, which is likely to affect exports as the Australian economy is New Zealand’s largest trading partner. With an export orientated economy, it's likely that some decisions around the official cash rate took into consideration the recent high flying stature of the Kiwi.