NZD/USD retreats to 0.6000 area ahead of key US data

• US Dollar Index stays flat above 100 on Thursday.
• Financial markets remain subdued ahead of key events.
• Coming up: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims and UoM Consumer Confidence Index data from US.

The NZD/USD pair is trading in a very tight 30-pip range on Thursday amid a lack of significant fundamental drivers. As of writing, the pair was virtually unchanged on the day at 0.6004.

Earlier in the day, the data from New Zealand revealed that Electronic Card Retail Sales in March declined by 3.9% on a monthly basis to miss the market expectation for an increase of 0.3% but was largely ignored by the market participants.

Eyes on US data, Powell speech

In the early trading hours of the American session on Thursday, the US Department of Labor will release the weekly Initial Jobless Claims data. Previewing the data, “if claims are higher than last week’s 6.648 million it would indicate that the economic damage will be even greater and the recovery more difficult and prolonged. If so the dollar will ride higher,” FXStreet Senior Analyst Joseph Trevisani said. “But if claims are as predicted or lower they will have lost the ability to frighten and the dollar’s risk premium will begin to deflate.”

In the meantime, the US Dollar Index is posting small daily losses at 100.08 but stays directionless to reflect the subdued market action.

Later in the day, FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell will be talking about the economic outlook at the Brookings Institute and the University of Michigan will publish its Consumer Sentiment Index data.

Technical levels to watch for