Auckland house market, Christchurch rebuild and still strong dairy exports (particularly to China) are all pointing to economic strengthening here in NZ and an interest rate hike sooner than Australia's (which is more likely to be cut further before it rises). Parity is not far off IMO.

Today's Australian Employment Change statistic of negative 22.6k against an expected increase of 7.5k does not bode well for the Aussie economy.

NZ CPI figure on 21 Jan and interest rate decision on 30 Jan will also be a factor.

BC