sydney feb 23 reuters  the new zealand dollar jumped to fiveweek highs on wednesday as the countrys central bank hiked rates as expected and signalled a more aggressive path forward than even the most hawkish investor had wagered the kiwi dollar quickly climbed 05 to 06764  shattering resistance around 06735 and opening the way to retracement targets at 06793 and 06890 the reserve bank of new zealand rbnz raised rates 25 basis points to 10 but revealed it came close to moving by 50 basis points to head off a further pick up in inflation expectations it also sharply revised up the projected path for the official cash rate ocr to peak at 335 from 26 previously and well above market expectations adding to the hawkish tone was a decision to start actively selling its bond holdings though only by a relatively modest nz5 billion a year the biggest surprise was the extent of the lift in the projected ocr track – higher even than our topofthemarket forecast of 3 said michael gordon westpacs acting chief economist for nz we continue to expect a series of 25bp hikes at upcoming policy reviews he added however given how much work the rbnz believes it has ahead of it the risk of a 50bp move at any given meeting remains live markets now see rates reaching 25 by year end up from 225 previously while twoyear swap rates surged 12 basis points to 2695 and heights last visited in early 2016 the australian dollar was also on the rise as global markets steadied in the wake of russias latest moves in ukraine the aussie stood at 07225  after touching a twoweek top of 07241 the break of resistance at 07228 was promising but a further barrier lurks at 07250 chart support lies at 07158 and 07100 it stumbled a little when local data showed annual wage growth only edged up to 23 in the december quarter when bulls had hoped for 24 or more read more futures responded by slightly lengthening the odds on a reserve bank of australia rba rate hike as early as june todays figures support the view that it may take some time to lift wages growth such that the norm becomes a wage rise of 34 rather than the 2 of recent years said paul bloxham hsbcs chief economist for australia the rba is seeking to run the economy hot for a while to try to reset these wage settings norms