- Unemployment Rate in New Zealand edges higher to 4.2% in first quarter.
- Broad-based USD strength doesn't allow NZD/USD to gain traction.
- ADP data is expected to show sharp decline in private sector employment in US.
The NZD/USD pair climbed above 0.6070 during the Asian trading hours after the data from New Zealand showed that the Employment Change in the first quarter came in higher than expected at +0.7%. Moreover, the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.2% from 4% to beat analysts' estimate of 4.3%. As of writing, NZD/USD was virtually unchanged on the day at 0.6051.
Commenting on New Zealand's jobs report, "our current forecast is for the unemployment rate to peak at 9.5% in the June quarter," said Westpac analysts. "However, there’s a lot of uncertainty as to how this will play out, and we’ll be closely watching how the jobs market progresses.”
Focus shifts to US ADP data
However, the broad-based USD strength made it difficult for the pair to preserve its bullish momentum. The US Dollar Index, which closed the first two days of the week in the positive territory, broke above the 100 mark for the first time since April 28th and was last seen gaining 0.22% on the day at 100.05.
In the second half of the day, the ADP's private sector employment data from the US will be watched closely by investors. The market forecast is for the Employment Change to print -20.5 million.
Technical levels to watch for
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