NZD/JPY bulls attack 84.00 amid RBNZ rate hike, sluggish yields

• NZD/JPY renews intraday high, jumps 40 pips on RBNZ rate hike.
• RBNZ matches market forecasts of 50 bps rate lift by increasing benchmark rate to 4.75%.
• Yields grind near three-month high ahead of US Fed Minutes.
• Geopolitical risks emanating from China, Russia should be eyed for clear directions.

NZD/JPY bulls flirt with the 84.00 threshold, after cheering a jump to 84.22, as they reassess the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) headlines early Wednesday. Also challenging the pair buyers could be the recently sluggish Treasury bond yields.

RBNZ announced its 10^th rate hike as the policymakers struggle to tame the inflation fears, cutting the benchmark rate by 0.50% to 4.75%. Following the RBNZ decision, the quarterly Rate Statement said, “There are early signs of lessening price pressures.” The same should have challenged the NZD/JPY bulls.

Other than the RBNZ, downbeat Japan data also favor the NZD/JPY bulls. That said, Reuters Tankan Manufacturing Index for Japan came in as -5.0 for February versus -6.0 in January. On the same line, Tankan Non-Manufacturing Index eased to 17 for the said month versus 20.0 prior.

On the other hand, the US 10-year and two-year treasury bond yields seesaw around the three-month highs marked the previous day as markets await the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes. It’s worth noting that the strong US data and hawkish Fed bets propelled the US Treasury bond yields to a multi-day high the previous day.

Elsewhere, comments from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian President Vladimir Putin were the top catalysts that weigh on the market sentiment as both suggest further tension between Moscow and Kyiv, which also includes the West and China of late.

Above all, Japan’s wage talks and looming concerns over the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) exit from the ultra-easy monetary policy, not to forget the risk-negative headlines, seem to keep the NZD/JPY bears hopeful.

Technical analysis

One-month-old descending resistance line guards immediate NZD/JPY upside near 84.25.