Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar traded lower against its U.S. rival during Wednesday’s Asian session after data showed an unexpected decline in New Zealand’s trade balance.
In Asian trading Wednesday, NZD/USD slipped 0.40% to 0.8250. The pair was likely to find support at 0.8206, the low of September 18 and resistance at 0.8401, the high of September 20.
The kiwi fell against the greenback after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s trade balance unexpectedly fell to negative NZD1.19 billion last month from negative NZD774 million in the prior month. Analysts expected an August reading of negative NZD743 million.
Riskier currencies such as the kiwi have been in a state of flux in recent days due to looming uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s intentions for its quantitative easing program.
On Friday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed could decide at its October monetary policy meeting to taper its USD85 billion monthly asset-purchasing program. Bullard’s comments were followed Monday by remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley who said the U.S. economy is still not strong enough for the Fed to consider tapering.
The greenback was supported during Wednesday’s Asian session on the back of some tepid U.S. data.
In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures home prices in 20 U.S. metro areas, rose 12.4% in July on a year-over-year basis.
That was inline with economists’ expectations. Prices rose 0.6% from June to July, but economists expected an increase of 0.8%. Thirty-year mortgage rates have risen to about 4.5% from 3.3% at the start of this year.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 79.7 in September from 81.8 in August. The June reading of 82.1 was the highest in five and a half years.
Elsewhere, NZD/JPY fell 0.50% to 81.38 while AUD/NZD rose 0.37% to 1.1385.
In Asian trading Wednesday, NZD/USD slipped 0.40% to 0.8250. The pair was likely to find support at 0.8206, the low of September 18 and resistance at 0.8401, the high of September 20.
The kiwi fell against the greenback after Statistics New Zealand said the country’s trade balance unexpectedly fell to negative NZD1.19 billion last month from negative NZD774 million in the prior month. Analysts expected an August reading of negative NZD743 million.
Riskier currencies such as the kiwi have been in a state of flux in recent days due to looming uncertainty surrounding the Federal Reserve’s intentions for its quantitative easing program.
On Friday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed could decide at its October monetary policy meeting to taper its USD85 billion monthly asset-purchasing program. Bullard’s comments were followed Monday by remarks from Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley who said the U.S. economy is still not strong enough for the Fed to consider tapering.
The greenback was supported during Wednesday’s Asian session on the back of some tepid U.S. data.
In U.S. economic news out Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures home prices in 20 U.S. metro areas, rose 12.4% in July on a year-over-year basis.
That was inline with economists’ expectations. Prices rose 0.6% from June to July, but economists expected an increase of 0.8%. Thirty-year mortgage rates have risen to about 4.5% from 3.3% at the start of this year.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 79.7 in September from 81.8 in August. The June reading of 82.1 was the highest in five and a half years.
Elsewhere, NZD/JPY fell 0.50% to 81.38 while AUD/NZD rose 0.37% to 1.1385.