Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar dropped to three-week lows against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of downbeat employment data from New Zealand, although the greenback's gains remained limited.
NZD/USD hit 0.7460 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since April 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7499, retreating 0.78%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7436, the low of April 14 and resistance at 0.7581, Wednesday's high.
In a report, Statistics New Zealand said that the number of employed people rose by 0.7% in the first quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.8% gain, after an increase of 1.2% in the last three months of 2014.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.8% in the three months to March from 5.7% in the previous quarter, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.5%.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained under pressure after mixed U.S. economic reports on Tuesday did little to support optimism over the strength of the nation's recovery.
The Institute of Supply Management reported that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index rose to a five-month high of 57.8 last month, above forecasts for a reading of 56.2.
At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the trade deficit widened to $51.37 billion in March, the highest level since 1996 in March.
The kiwi was also sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/NZD rallying 1.44% to 1.5012.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release its monthly ADP nonfarm payrolls report.