NZD/USD extends daily slide to 0.7170 area ahead of US data
- NZD/USD turned south after closing in the positive territory for three days.
- US Dollar Index closes in on 92.00 on Friday.
- Eyes on PPI and consumer confidence data from US.
The NZD/USD pair posted impressive gains in the previous three trading days and rose all the way to 0.7242 before reversing its direction on Friday. As of writing, the pair was down 0.7% at 0.7175.
USD capitalizes on rising T-bond yields
The USD's market valuation continues to drive NZD/USD's movements ahead of the weekend. Pressured by falling US Treasury bond yields, the US Dollar Index (DXY) fell sharply and touched a weekly low of 91.36 on Thursday. However, the strong rebound witnessed in the benchmark 10-year US T-bond yield, which was up 4.44% at the time of press, on Friday is helping the greenback outperform its rivals. At the time of press, the DXY was up 0.53% at 91.90.
Earlier in the day, the data from New Zealand revealed that the Business NZ PMI fell to 53.4 in February from 58 in January but this reading beat the market expectation of 49.8. Nevertheless, investors paid little to no mind to this report.
Later in the day, the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Futures are down 0.6% on the day, suggesting that the risk-off environment is likely to continue to support the USD in the second half of the day.
Technical levels to watch for