The New Zealand dollar ended Friday’s session close to a one-week low against its U.S. counterpart, as a better-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for June bolstered the outlook for the wider economic recovery.
NZD/USD hit 0.8716 on Thursday, the pair’s lowest since June 25, before subsequently consolidating at 0.8740 by close of trade on Friday, down 0.17% for the day and 0.43% lower for the week.
The pair is likely to find support at 0.8716, the low from July 3 and resistance at 0.8776, the high from July 3.
The U.S. dollar was boosted on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Labor said non-farm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 288,000 in June, easily surpassing expectations for an increase of 212,000.
The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 224,000 from a previously reported increase of 217,000.
The unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1% from 6.3% in May, the lowest in almost six years. The data was released a day early, ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Friday.
The upbeat jobs report bolstered the outlook for the broader economic recovery and revived speculation over when the Fed may start to raise interest rates.
In the week ahead, investors will be focusing on Wednesdays’ minutes of the Federal Reserve’s June meeting, with few other major U.S. economic reports on the calendar.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Monday and Friday as there are no relevant events on these days.
Tuesday, July 8
- New Zealand is to publish private sector data on business confidence.
- The Federal Reserve is to publish the minutes of its June meeting.
- New Zealand is to release private sector data on manufacturing activity.
- Later Thursday, the U.S. is to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims.
