Ella 
In early Asian trading on Friday, NZD/USD gained momentum above the mid-level of 0.6100. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) fell below the 103.00 mark for the first time since early February, providing support for NZD/USD’s gains. Investors will pay close attention to Friday’s closely watched U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) data. The incident could trigger market volatility. As of press time, NZD/USD was trading at 0.6175, up 0.01% on the day.
On Thursday, U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ended March 2 remained at a seasonally adjusted 217,000, weaker than expectations of 215,000. Meanwhile, continuing claims for unemployment benefits increased by 8,000 to 1.906 million for the week ended February 24 from the previous level of 1.899 million.
The labor market has been strong and inflation has risen since the beginning of the year, reducing the prospect of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in May. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday that he believed U.S. interest rates had peaked and would cut them later this year.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept interest rates unchanged at 5.5% at its February meeting and said it would keep monetary tightening in the short term to further reduce inflation. On Wednesday, Conway, chief economist of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, said that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts may boost the New Zealand dollar and ease inflationary pressures. Conway added that if the Fed begins to ease monetary policy later this year, the RBNZ may cut interest rates earlier than expected.
