NZD/USD trades at fresh multi-month lows near 0.6330
- PBoC lowers policy rate to 4.05% from 4.15%.
- US Dollar Index edges higher toward the critical 100 mark.
- Coming up: Weekly Jobless Claims and Philly Fed Manufacturing data from US.
The NZD/USD pair closed the previous day below the 0.6400 handle and continued to push lower on Thursday. As of writing, the pair was trading at its lowest level since mid-November at 0.6333, erasing 0.8% on a daily basis.
DXY climbs to new multi-year tops
The broad-based USD strength seems to be driving the pair lower. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, climbed to its highest level since late April of 2017 at 99.91 on Thursday as investors expect the US economy to stay more resilient in the face of a global economic slowdown amid the coronavirus outbreak.
On the other hand, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) lowered its policy rate to 4.05% from 4.15% in a widely expected decision and failed to provide a boost to China-proxy NZD.
Additionally, the disappointing labour market data from Australia triggered a fresh AUD/USD selloff and weighed on the positively-correlated NZD/USD pair.
In the second half of the day, weekly Jobless Claims data and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's regional Manufacturing Survey will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Technical levels to watch for