Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as market sentiment waned amid renewed concerns of further debt contagion in the euro zone while the region’s ministers were preparing a deal to strengthen the euro area’s financial firewall.
NZD/USD hit 0.8147 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8157, declining 0.30%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8114, the low of March 7 and resistance at 0.8227, the high of March 14.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that Spain could reignite the euro zone’s debt crisis, pointing to the country’s struggle to control its finances ahead of a meeting of finance ministers on March 30 to discuss the lending capacity of the region’s permanent bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Sentiment was also weakened by global growth concerns after data showed last week that manufacturing activity contracted this month in China and that it remained in contraction territory for the eighth consecutive month in the euro zone.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand’s trade balance swung into a higher surplus than expected in February, climbing to NZD161 million from a deficit of NZD159 million the previous month.
Analysts had expected the trade balance to rise to a surplus of NZD154 million in February.
Elsewhere, the kiwi was lower against the euro with EUR/NZD adding 0.07%, to hit 1.6229.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was scheduled to speak at the National Association for Business Economists 2012 Policy Conference. The U.S. was also to publish industry data on pending home sales.
NZD/USD hit 0.8147 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8157, declining 0.30%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8114, the low of March 7 and resistance at 0.8227, the high of March 14.
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti warned that Spain could reignite the euro zone’s debt crisis, pointing to the country’s struggle to control its finances ahead of a meeting of finance ministers on March 30 to discuss the lending capacity of the region’s permanent bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Sentiment was also weakened by global growth concerns after data showed last week that manufacturing activity contracted this month in China and that it remained in contraction territory for the eighth consecutive month in the euro zone.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that New Zealand’s trade balance swung into a higher surplus than expected in February, climbing to NZD161 million from a deficit of NZD159 million the previous month.
Analysts had expected the trade balance to rise to a surplus of NZD154 million in February.
Elsewhere, the kiwi was lower against the euro with EUR/NZD adding 0.07%, to hit 1.6229.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was scheduled to speak at the National Association for Business Economists 2012 Policy Conference. The U.S. was also to publish industry data on pending home sales.