Ella 
On Thursday, the NZD/USD in Asia was still on the defensive above the 0.6100 mark. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged at its January meeting and opened the door to a rate cut. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said it would be premature to cut interest rates in March. The pair is currently trading around 0.6115, up 0.03% on the day.
After the Fed’s interest rate decision was announced, the Fed kept the interest rate range unchanged at 5.25%-5.50% on Wednesday and stated that it would not start lowering the target range until it sees further progress in sustained inflation toward the 2% target. Investors had been expecting the Fed to kick off a possible rate-cutting cycle at its March meeting, but Powell said that might not happen.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), on the other hand, aims to keep inflation in a range of 1% to 3%, with a focus on keeping future inflation around the midpoint of 2%. With inflation slowing, financial markets expect the official cash rate (OCR) to be cut sooner rather than later, having already done so three times this year.
Next up, U.S. weekly jobless claims and the ISM manufacturing PMI will be released on Thursday. U.S. employment data will be released on Friday, including January nonfarm payrolls, unemployment rate and average hourly earnings.
