NZD/USD eyes intraday recovery above 0.6450 ahead of Fed’s Powell, focus is on RBNZ

• NZD/USD is expected to recover its intraday losses on broader weakness in the DXY.
• The monetary policy announcement from RBNZ Adrian Orr will keep the asset on the hooks.
• The DXY will remain on the sidelines ahead of Fed Powell’s speech.

The NZD/USD pair is attempting a recovery from the intraday low of 0.6428. A downside move after a flat open is expected to be recovered completely as investors are focusing on the interest rate decision announcement by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) on Wednesday.

In order to address the gigantic inflation monster, RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr is expected to elevate its Official Cash Rate by 50 basis points (bps).  The kiwi area is facing the headwinds of advancing energy bills and commodity prices, which are affecting the paychecks of the households. In the first quarter of CY 2022, the interest rate has been elevated to 6.9%, which is highly needed to be fixed by deploying various quantitative measures. However, the continuous hawkish tone from the RBNZ is elevating recession fears. An extreme liquidity shrinkage program in the kiwi zone could dampen the labor market and economic activities.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) is juggling in a narrow range of 102.00-102.32 ahead of the speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell. Investors are bracing for a hawkish tone considering inflationary pressures and significant additions in payrolls. Apart from that, the US Purchase Managers Index (PMI) is also on investors’ radar. A preliminary estimate for the S&P Composite PMI is 55.5, lower than the prior release of 56.