NZD: Relative calm ahead after a busy political month - ING

After an eventful month for the kiwi dollar, the week ahead should provide some relative calm - with only second-tier manufacturing PMI and 3Q PPI inflation data to note (both Thu), according to analysts at ING.

Key Quotes

“The RBNZ last week batted away concerns over the government's proposal for a switch in the central bank's mandate to include a full employment objective; official estimates show that the output gap is close to zero, with the RBNZ, in fact, bringing forward their estimate for the first hike to 2Q19 (versus 3Q19). The reality is that it'll probably be a lot earlier than this - with market pricing for a 4Q18 hike about right in our view.”

“The external environment should remain fairly conducive in the near-term, especially if waning tax reform sentiment continues to weigh on the USD. We see greater risks for a move back above 0.70.”