Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar edged higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, but remained close to the 17-month lows struck overnight after Republican gains in the U.S. mid-term elections and strong private sector jobs growth boosted the greenback.
NZD/USD edged up 0.14% to 0.7740, coming off overnight lows of 0.7668, the weakest since June 2013.
The dollar rallied on Wednesday after the Republican Party took control of the U.S. Senate, which was seen as pro-business, and following a report showing strong private sector jobs growth.
The ADP nonfarm payrolls report showed that the U.S. private sector added 230,000 jobs in October, ahead of expectations for jobs growth of 220,000.
Separately, the Institute of Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing index slowed to 57.1 last month from 58.6 in September.
However, the employment component of the index rose, boosting the outlook for the labor market ahead of Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
The kiwi was almost unchanged against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD at 1.1116 despite the release of encouraging Australian jobs data.
Official data showed that the number of people employed rose by 24,100 in October, compared with economists’ forecast of a 10,300 gain.
The Australian unemployment rate held steady at 6.2%.