Oil Prices Steady as U.S.-Iran Truce Uncertainty and Middle East Tensions Keep Markets on Edge 
Gold Prices Slide as Hawkish Fed and Strong Dollar Weigh on Bullion 
BOJ Signals More Rate Hikes as Inflation Risks Rise Amid Energy Price Pressures 
Canada, British Columbia Launch $5 Billion Infrastructure Partnership to Boost Housing, Transit, and Healthcare 
Dollar Hits One-Month High as Hawkish Fed Outlook Boosts Greenback 
100+ Global Companies Push Governments to Prioritize Electrification for Economic Growth 
Asian Currencies Stabilize as Dollar Holds Near Two-Month High After Fed Hawkish Signal 
Dollar Holds Firm as U.S.-Iran Talks Ease Tensions, GBP/USD Slips Amid UK Political Uncertainty 
Oil Prices Slide as U.S.-Iran Deal and Hormuz Reopening Ease Supply Concerns 
Asian Stocks Rally as Japan and South Korea Reach Record Highs on US-Iran Peace Deal 
Gold Price Rises as Investors Weigh U.S.-Iran Talks and Fed Policy Outlook 
Japan Inflation Stays Below BOJ Target Despite Rate Hike and Rising Energy Cost Risks 
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh Signals Policy Overhaul as Hawkish Rate Outlook Rattles Markets 
US Stock Futures Slip After Wall Street Rally Fueled by US-Iran Deal and Chipmaker Surge 
China’s AI Manufacturing Boom Masks Weak Consumer Economy, Citi Says 
Oil Prices Drop as U.S.-Iran Talks Ease Supply Concerns 
US Stock Futures Recover as Iran Signals Progress in Peace Talks 
The RBNZ said it has ended its easing cycle and will remain on hold until 2020. That will anchor the short end, although markets will not abandon their expectations for earlier tightening which means occasional spikes in the 2yr will be likely.
The long end will continue to follow mainly US yields, which we expect to rise. That means the curve steepening trend should continue.
Granted, the NZ economy is strong and dairy prices have risen, but these forces are subservient to the US dollar’s trend. Better data, but falling real rates and tightening credit keep us bearish.
We expect NZD to fall through this year, reaching 0.62 at year-end. The support to growth from migration will fade, while the RBNZ -at the very least–are likely to hold rates steady as inflation normalizes, pushing real rates materially lower.
Since our NZD outlook piece in November 2016, the economy has continued to perform strongly in real terms. GDP growth was over 1% QoQ in Q3, which would see the economy rounding out the year with annual growth comfortably above 3%. Still, much of the upside surprise in activity indicators is owed to the positive supply shock from migration (see above chart).
We expect that growth impulse to fade through 2017, which would deliver growth performance more in keeping with subdued inflation, and would also remove some of the pressure on housing.
It is even easier for the RBNZ to maintain a low for long bias in an environment where spreads are widening, and delivered mortgage rates are rising. We believe the overvalued exchange rate is preventing sufficient capital inflow to the non-bank economy to compensate for a swelling current account deficit. This has resulted in leakage of NZD liquidity, and rising funding costs for the bank.
The economy is also now subject to credit tightening through numerous channels: macro-prudential constraints, widening mortgage rate spreads, and banks’ discretionary tightening of credit criteria to businesses. We now expect the RBNZ to be on hold this year, but there is a clear downside risk to the OCR in the near term.
