NZD/USD climbs near the 0.6800 figure amid a risk-on market sentiment

• The NZD rises in tandem with risk-sensitive peers like the AUD and the GBP, the US dollar weakened.
• Fed’s Chief Powell: “If we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will.”
• NZD/USD is neutral-bearish biased, as the pair faces the confluence of the 50, 100, and 200 SMAs in the 4-hour chart.

The New Zealand dollar surges slightly 0.53% in the North American session, as the US central bank head, Jerome Powell, testifies against the US Senate Banking Committee on his renomination bid. At the time of writing, the NZD/USD is trading at 0.6790.

The market sentiment improved since the beginning of Chair Powell’s hearing, with US equity indices gaining between 0.15% and 1.01%. In the meantime, the US dollar shed its weekly gains, down 0.28%, sitting at 95.718.

In the bond market, US Treasuries fall, with the 10-year T-bond note fall to 1.768%, a headwind for the greenback.

Summary of Jerome Powell remarks

Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell said earlier at his appearance at the US Senate Banking Committee that the US central bank would use its tools to get inflation to the bank’s target. Powell said that “If we have to raise interest rates more over time, we will.” Further, he said that the US economy no longer needs to be accommodative and that the central bank should focus more on inflation than on the maximum employment goal.

An absent New Zealand economic docket left the NZD/USD pair leaning on US Fed speaking and market sentiment dynamics.

Atlanta’s Fed President Raphael Bostic said he penciled three hikes on December’s meeting on Tuesday. Furthermore, coincided with his colleagues, Cleveland and Kansas City presidents Loretta Mester and Esther George, respectively, that the balance sheet should be reduced sooner than later.

NZD/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook

The NZD/USD pair is neutral-downward biased. The 4-hour simple moving averages (SMAs) with a bearish slope, confluence around the 0.6790-95 area, a strong resistance level would be difficult to overcome for NZD bulls.

In the event of breaking above the area mentioned above, NZD bulls would challenge the 0.6800 figure, which once broken would expose the January 5 daily high at 0.6837, followed by 50-DMA at 0.6872.

On the flip side, the NZD/USD pair’s first line of defense would be the 0.6700 figure. A break under that figure exerts downward pressure on the pair. The following support would be October 2020 cycle lows around 0.6553.