- The NZD/USD pair marked fresh low on weak New Zealand jobs report.
- The unemployment rate jumped to 4.3% from 3.9% while the employment change softened to 0.1% from 1.1% during Q4 2018.
The New Zealand dollar lost nearly 70 pips against the USD to near 0.6760 lows just after the New Zealand quarterly employment report on late Wednesday. The job numbers disappointed the Kiwi optimists, as the headline figures weakened more than forecast during the last quarter of 2018 after registering an upbeat tone in the previous quarter.
The unemployment rate missed the 4.1% forecast to 4.3% whereas employment change weakened 0.1% by undermining the market consensus of 0.3% during the fourth quarter last year. The labor participation rate also softened to 70.9 from 71.1 expected & prior. It should also be noted that the previous quarter releases were 3.9% for the unemployment rate and 1.1% for the employment change.
After the news, the NZD/USD pair flashed fresh daily lows at 0.6762 while the losses were carried forward overnight with the pair trading near 0.6770 while writing.
With the sluggish employment report adding pressure on the Kiwi, any upbeat statement during the virtual town hall meeting for teachers by the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at 00:00 GMT on Thursday can add further weakness into the pair.
NZD/USD Technical Analysis
NZD/USD’s slump is yet to break the 200-day simple moving average figure around 0.6760, which in-turn signal brighter chance of its pullback to the 0.6805 including 50-day SMA. In case prices recover beyond 0.6805 the 0.6870 and the 0.6910 may regain buyers’ attention.
On the downside, a break below 0.6760, the 100-day SMA level of 0.6720 and an upward sloping trendline at 0.6650 seem to be the important supports to watch.
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