NZD/USD remains below 0.6050, pulls back from eight-month highs

• NZD/USD retreated from an eight-month high of 0.6081, recorded on Thursday.
• US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims climbed to 247,000, above the expected 235,000.
• Market sentiment improved after a productive phone call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

NZD/USD is trading around 0.6030 during the Asian hours on Friday after retreating from the eight-month high of 0.6081, reached on Thursday. The currency cross holds losses as the US Dollar (USD) gains ground, with traders' cautious awaiting of the upcoming US Nonfarm Payrolls, which is expected to have added 130,000 jobs in May, below the 177,000 increase in April. Moreover, the Unemployment Rate is also expected to hold steady at 4.2%.

UBS' economist Paul Donovan said that the uncertain economic outlook in the United States (US) makes it difficult for the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell to decide on monetary policy. The risk of policy error increases as Powell insists on data dependency. Policy operates with a lag, and real-time data, which is unreliable and normally a bad option.

A productive phone call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has improved the market sentiment. Trump expressed that the call was productive and prepared to continue tariff negotiations. Traders would likely observe Monday's slew of data from China, including consumer, producer prices, and trade data. Any changes in the Chinese economy could impact the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), as China and New Zealand are close trade partners.

Markets now expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) to hold rates steady at its July meeting after delivering a 25 basis point rate cut last week. The central bank is expected to deliver its last rate cut of the cycle in August.