NZD/USD retains bid tone even as China PMI prints below estimates
- NZD/USD keeps gains above 0.60 after disappointing China data.
- China's Caixin Services PMI remained below 50 in April.
- An above-forecast China trade could strengthen the bid tone around the growth-linked currencies.
The growth-sensitive New Zealand dollar continues to trade in green even though key data released soon before press time showed China's service sector activity declined in April.
While Caixin's Services PMI ticked higher to 44.4 in April from March's 43, it remained well below 50, indicating contraction, and printed below estimates of 51.
So far, the data has not had any impact no the NZD, leaving the NZD/USD pair largely unaffected near 0.6015 - up 0.17% on the day.
The Kiwi found bids at 0.5994 early Thursday after New Zealand's finance minister Grant Robertson said that his country will remain among the least-indebted of peer nations. While the pair is flashing gains, it is still holding well below Thursday's low of 0.6073.
NZD/USD fell by 0.74% on Wednesday amid renewed fears of the US-China trade war and the resulting broad-based US dollar rally. The NZD also has hits own issues with prices of whole milk powder, its key export, hovering 15% below the January's peak, and at US$2745, is 10% below the average of the past three years ($3040), according to Westpac analysts.
The pair, however, may challenge Wednesday's high if China's trade data for April better estimates, raising prospects of a quicker-than-expected rebound in the global economy.
Technical levels