Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, hovering near seven-month lows as demand for the greenback remained supported by expectations for a sooner than expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
NZD/USD hit 0.8250 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since February; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8270, easing 0.05%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8048 and resistance at 0.8329, Monday's high.
The greenback strengthened further after a study by the San Francisco Fed published on Monday indicated that Fed officials see rates rising earlier than markets expect.
The U.S. dollar has rallied in recent weeks amid expectations that the Fed may announce a rate increase earlier than expected after economic data indicated that the recovery in the U.S. is progressing strongly.
The kiwi was fractionally higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD slipping 0.08% to 1.1209.
Also Tuesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index fell to 8 last month, from a reading of 11 in July.
Data also showed that home loans in Australia rose 0.3% in July, disappointing expectations for an increase of 1.0%. June's figure was revised to a 0.1% gain from a previously estimated 0.2% rise.