NZD/USD Slides Below 0.6170 As Attention Turns To US NFP Data
NZD/USD falls near 0.6165 due to the prevailing cautious sentiment. The manufacturing sales figure for New Zealand in the third quarter decreased to -2.7% from 2.9% previously. Initial Jobless Claims in the United States increased by 220,000 from 218,000 the week prior. Later on Friday, traders will receive the highly anticipated US Nonfarm Payrolls data.

The NZD/USD pair ends a two-day winning stretch in the early hours of Friday's Asian trading session. Ahead of the highly anticipated US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), which are likely to cause market volatility, investors adopt a cautious stance. NZD/USD is trading at 0.6165 at the time of writing, down 0.10 percent on the day.
New Zealand Manufacturing Sales for the third quarter (Q3) decreased 2.7% on Friday, following a 2.9% increase in the previous reading. The ANZ Commodity Price for the nation decreased by 1.3% in November, following a 2.9% increase in October. Additionally, the Terms of Trade Index for the third quarter (Q3) reported a decrease of 0.6% quarter-on-quarter, compared to a previous increase of 0.3%.
Additionally, the hawkish posture adopted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) serves to strengthen the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) and provides a tailwind for the NZD/USD pair. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand maintained the cash rate at 5.5% last week, but emphasised that inflation remained excessively high and that further policy tightening might be required if price pressures did not abate.
The US Initial Jobless Claims increased from 218,000 to 220,000 in the week ending December 2, which impacted the USD. Continuing Claims decreased from 1.925M to 1.861M. However, the US employment data released on Friday may provide some insight into the state of the US labour market.
The November release of US Nonfarm Payrolls data, which is anticipated to add 180,000 positions, will be closely monitored by market participants. It is anticipated that the unemployment rate will remain unchanged at 3.9%. A decline in results below initial expectations might potentially cause selling pressure on the US dollar.
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