Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar declined against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, weighed by concerns over a decline in Chinese manufacturing activity and amid a steep drop in energy prices.
NZD/USD hit 0.7778 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since November 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7813, sliding 0.37%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7764, the low of November 25 and resistance at 0.7895, the high of November 26.
Data earlier showed that China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index slipped to 50.3 this month from 50.8 the previous month.
The China HSBC final manufacturing PMI remained unchanged at 50.0 in November, in line with expectations.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained broadly supported as U.S. oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday, extending a broad based selloff in the wake of last Thursday’s decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut output quotas.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.37% to 1.0810.
Also Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said company operating profits rose 0.5% in the third quarter, compared to expectations for a 1.2% decline. Company operating profits in the three months to June dropped 7.5%, down from a previously estimated 6.9% fall.
Later in the day, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.