NZD/USD appreciates above 0.5950 heading into the US NFP release

• NZD/USD hits session highs at 0.5970 after bouncing from 0.5930 lows earlier on Friday.
• The US Dollar loses ground ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls release.
• New Zealand's employment data feeds hopes that the RBNZ will hike rates this year.

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) extends gains against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, reaching session highs at 0.5970, after bouncing from 0.5930 earlier on the day. The Greenback loses ground despite a cautious market mood, as investors shift their focus from Iran to April’s US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report.

According to the market consensus, the US economy is expected to have created 62K new jobs in April, less than half the 178K fresh payrolls reported in March. The risk is on a weak reading that would offset the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish tweak of last week’s meeting, with some policymakers calling to remove the “easing bias” line from the central bank’s statement.

On the geopolitical front, an exchange of fire between the US and Iran cast doubt about the fate of the peace process on Thursday. US President Donald Trump played down these skirmishes and reiterated that the ceasefire remains in place, urging Tehran, once again, to sign a deal and put an end to the war.

Oil prices bounced up from Thursday's lows amid news from Iran, but remain well below last week's highs. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trades at $91, and the Brent Oil barrel is below the key $100 level, which provides some support to the Kiwi, as New Zealand is an oil-importing country.

Data from New Zealand released earlier this week showed an unexpected decline in the Unemployment Rate to 5.3% in Q1 from 5.4% in Q4, despite a lower-than-expected increase in net employment. Apart from that, Labour Costs grew beyond expectations, adding to inflationary pressures, and keeping hopes of a Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) near-term rate hike alive.