NZ dollar perks up on high domestic inflation but rate cuts seen intact
SYDNEY, July 17 (Reuters) -The New Zealand dollar perked up on Wednesday as domestically-driven inflation remained high, although headline figures eased to a three-year low and markets are sticking to bets of about three rate cuts by the end of the year.
New Zealand's consumer price index(CPI) rose 0.4% in the second quarter, below forecasts of a 0.5% increase. Annual inflation also slowed to 3.3% from 4.0% the previous quarter, also under the central bank's expectations of 3.6%.
However, a measure of non-tradable inflation, which is largely domestic goods and services, stood at 5.4%, slightly above the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's forecast of 5.3%, although it did ease from 5.8% the previous quarter.
The kiwi NZD=D3 gained 0.4% to $0.6074, reclaiming its overnight losses in the face of a strong greenback. It faces resistance at the 200-day moving average of $0.6077.
Two-year swap rates NZDSM3NB2Y=, which had tracked the overnight drop in Treasury yields, bounced off session lows to be up 5 ticks at 4.4275%.
All in all, the inflation report contained no major surprises as the dovish shift from the RBNZ last week led markets to price in a total easing of 70 basis points by year-end, with the first rate cut likely to come as early as next month. 0#RBNZWATCH
Both ANZ and Westpac on Wednesday brought forward their expectations for the first rate cut to November, from February next year.
"While non-tradables did technically deliver a fifth consecutive upward surprise for the RBNZ (and us), it was small," said Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ.
"There were plenty of details across the release showing inflation pressures are reducing."
The Aussie dollar AUDNZD=R lost 0.5% on Wednesday to NZ$1.1075, moving away from a 20-month peak of NZ$1.1141 hit just a day ago. It had been gaining on the kiwi thanks to a popular trade to play the policy divergence between Australia and New Zealand.
Against the greenback, the Australian dollar AUD=D3 was flat at $0.6730, having fallen 0.4% overnight to as low as $0.6712. Support is around $0.6714, while resistance is at the six-month top of $0.6798.
Local bonds rallied in tandem with U.S. Treasuries on expectations the Federal Reserve is getting closer to cutting interest rates.
The three-year Australian bond yield AU3YT=RR slipped 2 basis points to 3.968%, the lowest level in three weeks, while the 10-year eased 4 bps to 4.212%, also the lowest since late June.
Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Jamie Freed
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