Anna 
The dollar showed marginal gains as traders largely disregarded U.S. manufactured goods data, awaiting the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure for insights into potential interest rate cuts. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) maintained the cash rate, delivering a dovish commentary that led to a decline in the kiwi.
The Australian dollar remained near its lowest level in over a week following softer-than-expected inflation data, reinforcing expectations of no further domestic interest rate hikes.
In the U.S., durable goods orders fell by 6.1% last month, surpassing the 4.5% decline forecast by economists. Market attention now turns to the U.S. core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index scheduled for Thursday, with a forecasted gain of 0.4%.
Market expectations have largely ruled out rate cuts at the Fed’s upcoming meetings, but the focus remains on tier-one data, particularly anything hinting at growth weakness, according to Charu Chanana, Head of Currency Strategy at Saxo.
The U.S. dollar index, measuring the currency against a basket of peers, edged up 0.14% to 103.98.
In a surprising move, the RBNZ held the cash rate at 5.5%, with policymakers indicating a more balanced outlook for inflation risks. The kiwi slid around 1% in response.
The Australian dollar dipped after data revealed annual inflation at 3.4% in January, unchanged from December and below market forecasts of 3.6%. The Aussie was down 0.44% at $0.65140.
In the cryptocurrency space, bitcoin continued its surge, up 0.71% at $57,132.50, reaching a more than two-year high on Tuesday.
