NZD/USD flat lines above mid-0.6000s after Chinese data, seems vulnerable near two-month low

• NZD/USD struggles to gain any meaningful traction and reacts little to the Chinese macro data. 
• Bets for more aggressive rate cuts by the RBNZ continue to undermine demand for the NZD.
• The underlying strong bullish sentiment around the USD also contributes to capping the major.

The NZD/USD pair extends its sideways consolidative price move through the Asian session on Friday and remains within the striking distance of a nearly two-month low touched earlier this week. Spot prices hold steady around the 0.6065 region and move little following the release of mostly upbeat Chinese macro data. 

The official data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that China’s economy expanded 0.9% in the third quarter of 2024, while the annual growth rate stood at 4.6%. A separate report revealed that China’s Retail Sales increased by the 3.2% YoY rate in September vs. 2.5% expected, while Industrial Production rose 5.4% YoY vs. 4.6% anticipated and August’s 4.5%. 

This comes on top of the latest optimism over China’s stimulus measures, though fail to provide any meaningful impetus to the New Zealand Dollar (NZD). Expectations that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will cut rates aggressively in the wake of a fall in domestic inflation to the central bank’s target range of 1% to 3% in the third quarter act as a headwind for the domestic currency. 

Apart from this, the recent US Dollar (USD) upswing to its highest level since early August, bolstered by bets for a regular 25 basis points interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in November, contributes to capping the NZD/USD pair. Meanwhile, the lack of any meaningful buying favors bearish traders and suggests that the path of least resistance for spot prices remains to the downside.