{"id":30979,"date":"2026-03-18T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T09:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/30979\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T09:00:32","slug":"during-the-asian-session-nzd-usd-inches-above-the-mid-0-5800s-restrained-before-the-fomc-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/30979\/","title":{"rendered":"During the Asian session, NZD\/USD inches above the mid-0.5800s, restrained before the FOMC decision"},"content":{"rendered":"NZD\/USD edged up in the Asian session on Wednesday and traded just above the mid-0.5800s. Gains were limited, with little follow-through ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision.\n\nThe pair remained below the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA). Traders awaited the two-day FOMC outcome due later in the North American session before taking new positions.\n\n

Dollar Consolidation In Focus<\/h3>\nThe US Dollar consolidated after pulling back from its highest level since May 2025. A firmer tone in equity markets reduced demand for safe-haven assets and supported the New Zealand Dollar.\n\nExpectations that higher crude oil prices could lift inflation added support to the US Dollar. Reduced expectations for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts also limited USD declines.\n\nMiddle East tensions also restrained risk appetite and supported the US Dollar. These developments helped cap NZD\/USD gains.\n\nOn Tuesday, Iranian security official Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani were reported killed in Israeli air strikes. Iran\u2019s army said it would retaliate for Larijani\u2019s death, while the US military said it targeted sites along Iran\u2019s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz, described as a critical energy chokepoint.\n\n

Key Levels And Policy Crosscurrents<\/h3>\nWe are seeing the NZD\/USD pair hovering above the mid-0.5800s, but it’s clearly struggling to gain any real traction ahead of the big FOMC decision. The pair remains capped below its 200-day moving average, signaling that traders are hesitant to push it higher without a clear signal from the US Federal Reserve. This indecision suggests that the market is bracing for a significant move.\n\nThe core issue is the market’s shifting expectation for Fed rate cuts, which is keeping the US Dollar strong. With US CPI inflation data last week coming in at a persistent 3.4% year-over-year, the odds of a rate cut at this meeting have plummeted to just 15% according to the CME FedWatch tool. We saw how similar stubborn inflation readings in late 2025 pushed rate cut expectations further out, and that dynamic is supporting the dollar now.\n\nAt the same time, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are providing a floor for the dollar’s value due to its safe-haven status. The recent events involving Israeli strikes on Iranian officials and US military action near the Strait of Hormuz\u2014a chokepoint for nearly 20% of global oil supply\u2014are keeping traders on edge. This backdrop favors holding dollars and limits the appeal of riskier currencies like the Kiwi.\n\nLooking back to the volatility we experienced in the second half of 2025, any subtle shift in the Fed’s language caused sharp, multi-day moves in currency pairs. We should expect similar sensitivity today, meaning the current quiet period is likely to end abruptly after the announcement. This suggests that a directional bet placed now is highly speculative.\n\nGiven this uncertainty, traders could consider options strategies that profit from a spike in volatility, regardless of the direction. Buying straddles or strangles allows a trader to benefit from a large price swing, which is a likely outcome following the Fed’s statement and press conference. This approach hedges against the risk of guessing the direction incorrectly in a news-driven market.\n\nHowever, we must also consider that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand is running its own restrictive policy, holding its cash rate at 5.5% to fight domestic inflation. This provides some underlying support for the Kiwi and could mute the pair’s downside if the Fed’s message is less aggressive than anticipated. This tug-of-war between two hawkish central banks explains the current tight trading range.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NZD\/USD rose slightly above 0.5850 in Asia, capped as traders awaited FOMC amid Middle East tensions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}