NZD/USD Technical Analysis: 200-day MA is again capping upside

• Powell's dovish comments and the resulting USD sell-off pushed the NZD/USD pair above the falling channel hurdle yesterday. The bull breakout indicates the path of least resistance is to the higher side. The 200-day moving average (MA) hurdle, however, is putting brakes on the rally for the second time in two weeks.

4-hour chart

• The descending channel breakout seen in the chart indicates a resumption of the rally from the Nov. 11 low of 0.6514.

Daily chart

• As seen above, the pair is struggling to muster enough momentum to convincingly beat the 200-day moving average resistance of 0.6866. A daily close above that level would only bolster the already bullish technical setup, as represented by the falling channel breakout on the 4-hour chart, higher highs and higher lows, and the ascending 20-day MA.
• The bullish setup would be invalidated if the pair closes below the 20-day MA.

Trend: Bullish