Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar edged down against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, hovering near two-and-a-half month lows as Wednesday's downbeat business confidence data continued to weigh.
NZD/USD hit 0.8474 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8485, dipping slipping 0.11%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8407, the low of March 6 and resistance at 0.568, Wednesday's high.
The kiwi remained under pressure a day after data showed that the ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand fell to 53.5 this month, from a reading of 64.8 in April.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback was supported by data on Tuesday showing that U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April and another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with forecasts this month.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD gaining 0.66% to 1.0943.
Also Thursday, industry data showed that new home sales in Australia rose 2.9% in April, after a 0.2% uptick the previous month.
A separate report showed that private capital expenditure in Australia dropped 4.2% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for a 1.4% decline. Private capital expenditure in the fourth quarter of 2013 was revised to a 4.5% drop from a previously estimated 5.2% fall.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release revised data on first quarter GDP, as well as the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on pending home sales.