NZD/USD: Kiwi drops to fortnight low on softer than expected New Zealand employment report

• The NZD/USD pair marked fresh low of 0.6765 during late Wednesday and began Thursday around the same level on weak New Zealand jobs report.
• The unemployment rate slipped to 4.3% from 3.9% whereas employment change softened to 0.1% from 1.1% during the final quarter of 2018.

The New Zealand Dollar lost nearly 70 pips against the USD to 0.6765 just after the New Zealand quarterly employment report on late Wednesday. The job numbers disappointed Kiwi optimists as headline figures weakened more than forecast during the last quarter of 2018 after registering an upbeat tone in the previous quarter.

The unemployment rate slid past 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 flashed fresh low of the Wednesday to 0.6765 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

The NZD/USD’s slump to 0.6765 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 break of 0.6760, the 100-day SMA level of 0.6720 and an upward sloping trendline at 0.6650 seem important supports to watch.