NZD/USD: Unfazed by sluggish New Zealand retail sales

• NZD/USD showed less reaction to New Zealand Q2 Retail Sales.
• The White House Economic Adviser became the latest one to be optimistic about the US-China trade deal.
• The global slowdown fears weigh on commodity-linked currencies.

Despite witnessing sluggish Retail Sales numbers, NZD/USD remains little changed to the opening prices around 0.6370 during early Friday morning in Asia.

New Zealand’s second-quarter (Q2) 2019 Retail Sales grew 0.2% versus 0.7% prior while Retail Sales ex-Autos weakened to 0.3% against 0.7% earlier readouts.

The Kiwi pair slumped to the fresh low since January 2016 on Thursday as sluggish activity numbers from Japan, EU, Germany and the US highlighted fears of global recession and weighed over commodity-linked currencies like the New Zealand Dollar (NZD).

Further exerting the downside pressure is uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade deal due to the absence of positive response from China, despite recently upbeat comments from the US President Donald Trump and White House Economic Adviser Lary Kudlow.

Investors now keep an eye over the updates from the Jackson Hole Symposium as key Fed policymakers are scheduled for speeches during the day.

Technical Analysis

Momentum is likely being bearish unless prices rise past-June low of 0.6487.