New Zealand CPI responses coming in

Inflation data from NZ earlier today:

• New Zealand Q4 CPI 1.9% y/y (expected 1.8%)
• RBNZ core inflation gauge 1.7% y/y (prior 1.7%)

This via ASB (from alonger piece of thiers):

Summary & implications

• CPI ... the details of the release were surprisingly strong, with non-tradable and measures of underlying inflation all lifting. Further, there was evidence that price pressure is spreading beyond housing-related sectors.
• From the RBNZ's perspective, underlying inflation was stronger than expected and suggests that economic momentum over 2017 and early 2018 supported inflation pressures. However, given the recent slowdown in growth and the ongoing downside risks to the inflation outlook, we expect the RBNZ to remain patient for now. We don't expect the RBNZ to raise the OCR for a considerable period of time, but today's release confirms that there is a high hurdle to rate cuts in the current environment.