News: FOREX-Dollar steadies as investors heed hawkish reminder from New Zealand

	  RBNZ hikes policy rate 50 bps 

	  NZ move dims hopes of slowdown in rate hikes globally 

	  Kiwi jumps briefly, U.S. dollar finds traction 

The dollar steadied on Wednesday after a sharp rate rise in New Zealand poured cold water over hopes for a pause or slowdown in the U.S. Federal Reserve's intentions for aggressive hikes.

The dollar had suffered its heaviest setback in more than two years on Tuesday but was back on the front foot after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) delivered a fifth consecutive 50 basis point (bp) hike.

Even the New Zealand dollar was only boosted briefly. The kiwi NZD=D3 leapt as much as 1.3% before falling back to flat at $0.5731. The euro EUR=EBS fell 0.2% to $0.9963. Sterling's rally faltered as it fell 0.5% to $1.1425.

The RBNZ move and tone contrasted with the Reserve Bank of Australia's surprisingly small 25 bp hike a day earlier, which had stoked hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve may also slow hikes and fuelled dollar selling.

"Just as RBA's smaller-than-expected hike yesterday added to trimming of hawkish Fed bets, RBNZ's hawkish signalling could remind markets that fighting inflation is still priority for many central banks," said Maybank analyst Saktiandi Supaat.

"A more synchronous dovish tilt among major central banks on growth fears might be premature."

The dollar index =USD , down about 4% since hitting a record high of 114.78 last week, steadied to 110.37.

Demand for the safe haven dollar had fallen in recent days as the mood in global markets improved on speculation Britain's new finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng, having rowed back on a proposed tax break for high earners, could make further adjustments to a mini-budget that had sent bond and currency markets into a tailspin last week.

Having recovered nearly 11% from week-ago record lows, sterling's rally seems to be running out of steam, dealers said.

Analysts have been cautious about how much has really changed about Britain's fiscal outlook and how broad Australia's rates signal really was, leaving the dollar's dip open to reversal.

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Philip Jefferson reiterated overnight that inflation was policymakers top target and that growth would suffer in efforts to bring it down.

U.S. labour data due on Friday will be the next major indicator of the likely trajectory of U.S. rates.

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	Currency bid prices at 0245 GMT 

 Description	  RIC		 Last		   U.S. Close  Pct Change	 YTD Pct	 High Bid	Low Bid 
											  Previous				   Change				  
											  Session											
 Euro/Dollar	   EUR=EBS																	   

							  $0.9962		 $0.9988	-0.26%		  +0.00%	  +0.9990	 +0.9962 
																								 
 Dollar/Yen		JPY=EBS																	   

							  144.2550		144.0950   +0.08%		  +0.00%	  +144.3250   +143.5850 
																								 
 Euro/Yen		 
				  S>		  143.70		  143.91	 -0.15%		  +0.00%	  +144.0000   +143.3900 
																								 
 Dollar/Swiss	  CHF=EBS																	   

							  0.9805		  0.9797	 +0.09%		  +0.00%	  +0.9807	 +0.9786 
																								 
 Sterling/Dollar   GBP=D3																		

							  1.1416		  1.1477	 -0.49%		  +0.00%	  +1.1486	 +1.1417 
																								 
 Dollar/Canadian   CAD=D3																		

							  1.3539		  1.3508	 +0.16%		  +0.00%	  +1.3540	 +1.3505 
																								 
 Aussie/Dollar	 AUD=D3																		

							  0.6481		  0.6502	 -0.32%		  +0.00%	  +0.6526	 +0.6481 
																								 
 NZ				NZD=D3																		

 Dollar/Dollar				0.5730		  0.5732	 +0.02%		  +0.00%	  +0.5805	 +0.5722 
																								 
																								 
 All spots  FX=  
Tokyo spots  AFX=  Europe spots  EFX=   Volatilities  FXVOL=   Tokyo Forex market info from BOJ  TKYFX  
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World FX rates	https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E 

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