Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as investors remained cautious after the release of disappointing U.S. jobs data on Friday.
NZD/USD hit 0.8503 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8506, slipping 0.09%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8462, the low of August 1 and resistance at 0.8557, the high of July 29.
On Friday, official data showed that the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, below forecasts for jobs growth of 233,000. The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 298,000 from a previously reported increase of 288,000.
Although it was the sixth successive month that the U.S. economy added more than 200,000 jobs, the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked up to 6.2% from 6.1% in June. In addition, wage growth was flat, pointing to underlying slack in the economy.
The data eased speculation over the timing of a possible rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD adding 0.10% to 1.0951.
Also Monday, official data showed that Australian retail sales rose 0.6% in June, exceeding expectations for a 0.4% gain. Retail sales for May were revised to a 0.3% fall from a previously estimated 0.5% decline.
A separate report showed that job advertisements in Australia rose 0.3% in July, after a 4.4% increase in May, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated 4.3% gain.