NZD/USD bulls step in at key hourly support into Chinese data

• NZD/USD bulls step in as the bears start to move out. 
• The price is held up at familiar support as traders await fresh catalysts. 

NZD/USD is holding in a flat position in a quiet Asian session. At the time of writing is trading at 0.6945 after travelling from a high of 0.6945 and a low of 0.6937. There is a lack of catalysts until the US session's Federal Open Market Committee minutes, although Chinese data will be eyed. 

Overnight, it was a story about the US dollar and yields. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard spooked the markets while she talked about potential aggressive actions by the Fed and in anticipation of hawkish minutes tomorrow. 

the Fed member explained that the central bank could start reducing its balance sheet as soon as May and would be doing so at “a rapid pace.” She also indicated that interest rate hikes could come at a more aggressive pace than the typical increments of 0.25 percentage points.

As a consequence, the US Treasury yields surged to multi-year highs and the DXY, an index that measures the greenback vs a basket of currencies, ran up to test 99.50 to print a fresh high for 2022 at 99.493. 

Meanwhile, the Fed officials began the process of policy normalization by lifting rates 25bp to 0.25%-0.50% at the March meeting and on Wednesday the minutes of that meeting will be released.

''The FOMC pull no hawkish punches in its policy guidance, with Chair Powell also hinting further information about QT plans will be provided in the minutes (possibly including caps details). We continue to expect an official QT announcement at the May FOMC meeting,'' analysts at TD Securities said. 

Coming up, the Chinese data is coming up. ''The March Caixin/Markit services PMI should reflect weakness in the sector on account of weak demand and elevated input costs,'' analysts at Westpac said.