Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar dropped to seven-day lows against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, weighed by the release of downbeat manufacturing data out of New Zealand, while expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon begin tapering stimulus lifted the greenback.
NZD/USD hit 0.8234 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since October 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8242, retreating 0.69%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8194, the low of October 2 and resistance at 0.8320, Wednesday's high.
Data showed that the Business NZ manufacturing index declined to 54.3 in September, from a downwardly revised reading of 57.1 the previous month.
Meanwhile, the minutes from the Fed’s September meeting said the decision not to begin tapering stimulus was a "close call," fuelling expectations that the bank will begin to scale back bond purchases in the next few months.
The greenback also strengthened after President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to head the U.S. central bank, easing uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy.
But investors remained cautious as a partial U.S. government shutdown continued into a tenth day, with Congress still deadlocked over the U.S. debt ceiling and the federal budget.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar with AUD/NZD gaining 0.46%, to hit 1.1422.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 9,100 in September, below expectations for a 15,000 increase, after a downwardly revised 10,200 decline the previous month.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.6% last month, from 5.8% in August. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in September.
Separately, the Melbourne Institute said inflation expectations rose to 2% in October, from 1.5% the previous month.
NZD/USD hit 0.8234 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since October 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8242, retreating 0.69%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8194, the low of October 2 and resistance at 0.8320, Wednesday's high.
Data showed that the Business NZ manufacturing index declined to 54.3 in September, from a downwardly revised reading of 57.1 the previous month.
Meanwhile, the minutes from the Fed’s September meeting said the decision not to begin tapering stimulus was a "close call," fuelling expectations that the bank will begin to scale back bond purchases in the next few months.
The greenback also strengthened after President Barack Obama announced his nomination of Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to head the U.S. central bank, easing uncertainty over U.S. monetary policy.
But investors remained cautious as a partial U.S. government shutdown continued into a tenth day, with Congress still deadlocked over the U.S. debt ceiling and the federal budget.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar with AUD/NZD gaining 0.46%, to hit 1.1422.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 9,100 in September, below expectations for a 15,000 increase, after a downwardly revised 10,200 decline the previous month.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.6% last month, from 5.8% in August. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in September.
Separately, the Melbourne Institute said inflation expectations rose to 2% in October, from 1.5% the previous month.