{"id":31162,"date":"2026-03-19T23:59:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:59:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/31162\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T23:59:46","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T23:59:46","slug":"despite-weak-new-zealand-gdp-nzd-usd-rebounds-to-0-5840-gaining-0-73-as-the-us-dollar-softens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/31162\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite weak New Zealand GDP, NZD\/USD rebounds to 0.5840, gaining 0.73% as the US Dollar softens"},"content":{"rendered":"NZD\/USD traded near 0.5840 on Thursday, up 0.73% after falling the previous day. The rise came as a weaker US Dollar outweighed soft economic data from New Zealand.\n\nStatistics New Zealand reported GDP rose 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in Q4, below the 0.4% forecast and down from 0.9% in the prior quarter. Annual growth was 1.3%, under the 1.7% forecast but slightly above the previous reading.\n\nThe New Zealand Dollar held up as the US Dollar softened amid cautious market conditions and moves in yields and commodities. Falls in the US Dollar may be limited after the Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged, lifted its inflation projections, and signalled only limited rate cuts.\n\nFed Chair Jerome Powell said inflation risks remain tilted to the upside, linked to higher energy costs tied to the Middle East war. Disruptions to gas and oil supply have kept prices elevated, adding to inflation concerns.\n\nANZ said higher oil prices could increase near-term inflation pressures in New Zealand and weigh on the economic outlook. This could limit further NZD gains while the Fed remains cautious on easing policy.\n\nLooking back at the situation in early 2025, we saw the NZD\/USD rally despite New Zealand&#8217;s weak Q4 GDP report. The move was driven entirely by a temporary dip in the US Dollar. This created a clear divergence between the currency&#8217;s price action and its underlying economic fundamentals.\n\nThis divergence presented an opportunity to position for a reversal. We should have viewed the rally toward 0.5840 as a chance to buy put options on the NZD\/USD. Such a strategy would allow for profiting from a decline, with risk limited to the premium paid.\n\nThe disappointing 0.2% growth from late 2024 was a clear warning sign for New Zealand&#8217;s economy. As we now know, this weakness persisted, with New Zealand entering a technical recession in the second half of 2025. This confirms that the initial GDP miss was not a one-off event.\n\nFurthermore, the Federal Reserve&#8217;s restrictive stance at that time proved to be long-lasting. While many expected aggressive cuts, the Fed has only delivered one 25-basis-point cut so far in 2026. This is because core inflation remains sticky, coming in at 3.1% for February.\n\nThe concerns about rising energy costs mentioned in 2025 were also well-founded. Geopolitical tensions have kept WTI crude oil prices elevated above $90 a barrel for most of early 2026. This continues to act as a headwind for energy-importing nations like New Zealand, weighing on its currency.\n<p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Start trading now &#8211; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/trade-now\/\">here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NZD\/USD rises to 0.5840 as weaker US Dollar offsets soft NZ GDP; Fed cautious, oil boosts inflation.<\/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-31162","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\/31162","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=31162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}