- Weekly jobless claims fall to 210K in the U.S.
- Fed’s George says Trump’s comments won’t influence her vote on rate hikes.
- Markit PMI from the U.S. will be released next, the NZ economic docket will feature trade balance figures.
The NZD/USD pair failed to stay above the 0.67 mark on Thursday and started to retrace its weekly gains on the back of a relatively stronger greenback. At the moment, the pair is down 0.35% on the day at 0.6672.
After closing the previous day above the critical 95 mark, the US Dollar Index finally gained traction and retraced a small portion of its recent losses. Today’s data from the U.S. showed that initial jobless claims fell to 210 for the week ending August 17 to come in better than the market expectation of 215K. Furthermore, speaking to news outlets on the sidelines at the Jackson Hole Symposium, Kansas Fed President Esther George reassured markets that President Trump’s criticism of the Fed’s monetary policy wouldn’t influence her vote on rate hikes. George also added that she was in favor of two more rate hikes this year.
Later in the day, Markit is going to publish the Manufacturing & Services PMI in the U.S. Kansas Fed Manufacturing Index will also be looked upon for fresh impetus. During the early trading hours of the Asian session, trade balance figures from New Zealand could impact the kiwi’s market valuation as it might show the negative impact of the trade conflict between China and the U.S. have an effect on the economy.
Technical levels to consider
The initial support aligns at 0.6635 (Aug. 21 low), 0.6580 (Aug. 17 low) and 0.6500 (psychological level). On the upside, resistances could be seen at 0.6735 (50-DMA), 0.6795/0.6800 (Aug. 2 high/psychological level) and 0.6845 (100-DMA).
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