Asia Recap: RBNZ neutral bias, no surprise in Aus jobs

FXStreet (Bali) - The familiar USD strength theme continued to dominate in Asian hours, but this time lagging well behind the Kiwi, which found in a neutral RBNZ monetary policy outcome the perfect ally to appreciate across the board, with moves in the rest of the G10 FX complex fairly subdued, including the AUD, after an in-line Australian jobs report.

AUD/USD traded as high as 0.7624 before giving back its minor post Aus gains, easing off towards 0.7572 before stabilizing just ahead of the 0.76 handle. Digging into the figures, we saw Australia's full time employment up by 10.3k, while part time rose by 5.3k, adding to a total employment change for February of +15.6k, with the jobless rate at 6.3 (as expected), while participation rate declined to 64.6% vs 64.8% prior.

NZD/USD spiked to 0.7325 from sub 0.72 levels after the RBNZ kept its neutral stance, sounding slightly more upbeat on the economic outlook going forward. RBNZ's Governor Wheeler surprisingly added that he was pleased with current NZD/USD level. ANZ Economics Team provided their insights post event, noting that "despite the clear neutral tone, the currency response to today’s decision and commentary (up) is telling, as the market obviously needed a lot from the RBNZ to validate recent weakness."

USD/JPY kept pressing higher, although a big wall of offers along 121.60 disallowed further progress. The Nikkei 225 had a firm bullish day which was not replicated by the same momentum in the USD/JPY front, further evidence of the selling interest around the mentioned level. EUR/USD remained in free-fall mode, with the rate marginally breaching 1.05 before a minor bounce.