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• NZD/USD gains ground as US Dollar improves on rising odds of Fed rate cuts in 2024.
• The US ISM Services PMI dropped to 48.8 in June, marking its steepest decline since April 2020.
• Fed’s Austan Goolsbee stated that bringing inflation back to 2% will require more time and data.

NZD/USD extends its winning streak for the third successive session, trading around 0.6120 during the European hours on Thursday. This upside is attributed to a decline in the US Dollar (USD), which could be attributed to softer data from the United States (US) raising speculations of the Federal Reserve (Fed) reducing interest rates in 2024.

US ISM Services PMI fell sharply to 48.8 in June, marking the steepest decline since April 2020. This figure was well below market expectations of 52.5, following a reading of 53.8 in May. The ADP Employment report showed that US private businesses added 150,000 workers to their payrolls in June, the lowest increase in five months. This figure fell short of the expected 160,000 and was below the downwardly revised 157,000 in May.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee stated on BBC Radio on Wednesday that bringing inflation back to 2% will take time and that more economic data are needed. On the contrary, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the central bank is getting back on the disinflationary path, per Reuters.

In New Zealand, The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is set to deliver an interest rate decision next week after maintaining borrowing costs at 5.5% for the seventh consecutive meeting in May. Traders will take more cues from the Monetary Policy Statement post-rate decision.

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) might face a challenge as the Caixin Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in China, a major trading partner, fell to 51.2 in June from 54.0 in May on Wednesday. The market had forecast a figure of 53.4 for the period.

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