• NZD/USD struggles to gain ground on the downbeat New Zealand GDP numbers.
• US Retail Sales came in at 0.3% in November vs. -0.2% prior, above the market consensus.
• New Zealand's economy shrank in the third quarter of 2023.
• Chinese Industrial Production for November came in better than estimated, but Retail Sales were missing the market consensus.

The NZD/USD pair snaps the four-day winning streak during the early Asian session on Friday. The weaker-than-expected New Zealand GDP growth numbers weigh on the Kiwi and create a headwind to the NZD/USD pair. The pair currently trades near 0.6198, losing 0.21% on the day.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to keep rates unchanged again at 5.25%–5.50% on Wednesday. During the press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that there was a lot of uncertainty and the central bank needed to see further progress. Powell added that they do not want to rule out the possibility of further hikes, even though Fed policymakers projected at least three rate cuts next year.

US Retail Sales rose 0.3% in November from a 0.2% drop in the previous reading, above the market consensus. Meanwhile, the Initial Jobless Claims in the week ending December 9 showed 202K from the previous week of 221K, better than the estimated 220K. Continuing Claims climbed by 20,000 to 1.876M in the week ended December 2.

On the Kiwi front, New Zealand's economy shrank in the third quarter of 2023. Statistics New Zealand revealed on Thursday that the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter (Q3) contracted 0.3% from the 0.5% expansion in the previous reading, below the market expectation of 0.2% rise. Additionally, the annual GDP came in at -0.6%, compared with the 1.5% growth in Q2 while below the market consensus of a 0.5% increase. The downbeat GDP growth data exerts some selling pressure on the New Zealand Dollar (NZD).

The latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China showed on Friday that Chinese Industrial Production for November came in better than estimated, climbing 6.6% YoY from 4.6% in the previous reading. However, the Retail Sales grew 10.1% YoY compared to the previous print of 7.6%, missing the market consensus of a 12.5% rise.

Later on Friday, investors will take more cues from the preliminary US S&P Global PMI report for December. The Manufacturing PMI is estimated to ease from 49.4 to 49.3, while the Services PMI is projected to ease from 50.8 to 50.6. These figures could give a clear direction to the NZD/USD pair.