Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was almost unchanged against its U.S. counterpart in subdued trade on Friday, as investors continued to speculate over a possible near-end term to the Federal Reserve's bond buying program.
NZD/USD hit 0.8111 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8090, easing up 0.04%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8034, the low of May 22 and resistance at 0.8171, the high of May 23.
The greenback remained supported after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week a decision to scale back the U.S. central bank’s USD85 billion-dollar-a-month asset purchase program could be taken in the "next few meetings" depending on economic data.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes from the U.S. central bank’s May meeting showed a "number" of policymakers were prepared to taper bonds purchases as soon as June.
The kiwi remained under pressure after data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 in May, below the 50 level that separates contraction from growth down from a final reading of 50.4 in April.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
The kiwi was higher against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD slipping 0.19%, to hit 1.1910.
Trading volumes were expected to remain low as U.S. markets were to remain closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
NZD/USD hit 0.8111 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8090, easing up 0.04%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8034, the low of May 22 and resistance at 0.8171, the high of May 23.
The greenback remained supported after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week a decision to scale back the U.S. central bank’s USD85 billion-dollar-a-month asset purchase program could be taken in the "next few meetings" depending on economic data.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes from the U.S. central bank’s May meeting showed a "number" of policymakers were prepared to taper bonds purchases as soon as June.
The kiwi remained under pressure after data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 in May, below the 50 level that separates contraction from growth down from a final reading of 50.4 in April.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
The kiwi was higher against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD slipping 0.19%, to hit 1.1910.
Trading volumes were expected to remain low as U.S. markets were to remain closed for the Memorial Day holiday.