NZD/USD extends the downside to the vicinity of 0.5900

• NZD/USD trades lower around 0.5920 close to the year-to-date low.
• Kiwi continues to weaken due to unchanged interest rates and upbeat US economic data.
• Traders’ attention is expected to be on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech.

NZD/USD continues the losing streak that began on August 8, with spot prices currently trading around 0.5920 during the Asian session on Monday. The pair has experienced a decline for the sixth consecutive week and remains very close to the year-to-date low that was touched on Friday.

The NZD/USD pair continues to experience a decline due to upbeat United States (US) economic data released last week. Initial Jobless Claims on August 11 decreased to 239K from the previous 250K, lower than the projected reading of 240,000. Additionally, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for August displayed an improvement, rising to a reading of 12 from the previous -13.5, outperforming the expected -10.

On the other hand, during the last week, New Zealand introduced no change in its monetary policy and kept the interest rates unchanged at 5.5%. The market had the same expectation, which contributed to the weakening of the NZD/USD pair. Additionally, Producer Price Index (PPI) - Output data unmatched expectations and showed the economy steadied at 0.2% against the expectation of 0.7% in the second quarter. The data contributed to Kiwi's weakness against the US Dollar (USD).

Market participants will closely monitor upcoming US data releases during the week, namely Home Sales and the preliminary S&P Global PMI surveys for August. Investors will also closely watch Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech during the Jackson Hole Symposium to get fresh insights into the overall US economic outlook before placing fresh bets on NZD/USD pair.