Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, supported by the release of positive trade balance data from New Zealand, although demand for the greenback still remained supported
NZD/USD hit 0.8346 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8328, adding 0.17%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8261, the low of February 24 and resistance at 0.8381, the high of February 18.
Official data earlier showed that New Zealand's trade surplus narrowed less-than-expected to NZ$306 million in January, from NZ$493 million the previous month, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated surplus of NZ$523 million.
Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to NZ$230 million last month.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after the Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new home sales rose to their highest level since July 2008 in January. Sales of new homes climbed 9.6% last month to 468,000, compared to expectations for a 1% decline, while sales in December were revised upward.
The data came after a recent series of disappointing U.S. economic reports raised doubts over the strength of the recovery.
The kiwi was higher against the euro, with EUR/NZD slipping 0.21% to 1.6425.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders and the weekly report on initial jobless claims.