NZD/USD holding near Friday's consolidation as holiday markets continue

• Easter Monday and a lack of macro data leaves the Kiwi exposed to market sentiment drivers.
• NFP week and China's retaliatory tariffs likely to weigh on market sentiment heading into the new week.

The NZD/USD is continuing to trade within Friday's tight consolidation, testing around the 0.7235 region after closing a minuscule opening gap that saw the pair open the new week near 0.7225. With the Kiwi markets shuttered for an extra day in observance of the Easter long weekend, volumes for the NZD session are likely to be thinner than usual and action could see a spike in volatility, but overall movement will be restrained with a lack of players in the ensuing Monday sessions.

It's a quiet week for the Kiwi on the macro calendar, and renewed market stress over the potential for trade wars may accelerate this week following China imposing tariffs on US goods over the weekend, despite appearing willing to negotiate a peaceful trade deal last week. Non-Farm Payrolls will also draw special focus this week, and Friday's NFP release will see traders looking into the wage growth figures buried in the report as the US Fed positions itself for further rate increases this year if wages manage to impress.

NZD/USD Technicals

The Kiwi's technical stance is holding steady from the weekend, and as the RoboForex Team noted, "NZD/USD is trading at 0.7235; the instrument is moving inside Ichimoku Cloud, which means that it is moving sideways. The markets could indicate that the price may test the upside border of the cloud at 0.7255 and then continue moving downwards to reach 0.7145. However, the scenario that implies further decline may be cancelled if the price breaks the upside border of the cloud and fixes above 0.7265. In this case, the pair may continue growing towards 0.7350. After breaking the downside border of the rising channel and fixing below 0.7175, the price may continue moving downwards."