Ella 
In early Asian trading on Friday, the NZD/USD pair interrupted its seven consecutive gains and fell below the 0.6200 mark. NZD/USD’s losses were underpinned by a decline in New Zealand’s fourth-quarter (Q4) retail sales despite a pullback in the US dollar. NZD/USD is currently trading around 0.6194, with an intraday decline of 0.09%.
The latest data released by Statistics New Zealand on Friday showed that New Zealand’s fourth-quarter retail sales quarterly rate was -1.9%, compared with -0.8% in the previous quarter. This was the eighth consecutive month of decline in retail sales. At the same time, the core retail sales rate excluding automobiles in the fourth quarter was -1.7%, compared with the previous value of 0.4%.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its interest rate decision next week and is expected to remain on hold. Investors will get more clues from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s language. If the RBNZ maintains its hawkish bias, this could provide some support for NZD/USD and become a bullish factor for NZD/USD.
On the other hand, the U.S. S&P Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 51.4 in February from the previous value of 52.0. The manufacturing PMI in February rose to 51.5 from 50.7 in January, which was better than the expected value of 50.5. The number hit a 16-month high. Finally, the services PMI fell to 51.3 in February from 52.5 in January, below market expectations.
In addition, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States was stronger than expected. The report showed that the U.S. labor market remains strong, which may provide some support for the Fed’s “long-term tightening” argument.
