Market wrap: Reserve Bank of New Zealand equally balanced - Westpac

Analysts at Westpac offered a market wrap.

Key Quotes:

"The RBNZ kept its cash rate at 1.75% as fully expected but its quarterly forecasts and commentary had a dovish lean. In the opening statement, new governor Adrian Orr said “The direction of our next move is equally balanced, up or down. Only time and events will tell.” NZD/USD tumbled from 0.6985 to 0.6945 and AUD/NZD bounced from 1.0680 to 1.0740."

"US data and news had no apparent market impact. The US dollar rose in the London morning but then retraced. Equities in Europe and the US were upbeat."

"The US 10yr treasury yield rose from 2.99% to 3.01% and 2yr yields rose from 2.51% to 2.53% - a fresh ten-year high. The ongoing rise in oil prices may be a factor."

"EUR/USD initially extended a multi-week decline to 1.1823 before consolidating. USD/JPY extended the day’s earlier gains to 109.83. AUD/USD initially fell to 0.7412 – the lowest since June 2017 - before recovering to be flat on the day at 0.7460. CAD was a clear outperformer, up 0.75% on the day, bolstered by oil prices."

"The Malaysian ringgit spot market is not open but non-deliverable forwards were being quoted around 2% weaker, with a similar fall in a Malaysian equity ETF as the ruling party appeared to be ejected from office in a surprise result."