Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, but remained close to 11-month highs as markets were jittery ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy statement later in the day.
NZD/USD hit 0.8600 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8603, falling 0.20%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8529, the low of March 17 and resistance at 0.8640, Tuesday's high and an 11-month high.
The U.S. central bank was widely expected to continue to roll back its bond purchasing program by $10 billion at the conclusion of its monthly meeting later Wednesday, the first with Janet Yellen at the helm.
Data released on Tuesday indicated that the economic recovery in the U.S. remains sluggish. The annual rate of inflation slowed to 1.1% in February from 1.6% in January. A separate report showed that building permits rose more than expected last month following a steep drop in January, but housing starts slipped.
Risk sentiment had been boosted on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia isn't seeking "a partition of Ukraine", signaling that Russia's moves in Ukraine would be limited.
The comments came during a speech to a joint session of parliament in Moscow, a day after the president recognized the results of Sunday's referendum in Crimea, which saw a majority of voters chose to split from Ukraine.
The kiwi was fractionally lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD edging up 0.08% to 1.0594.
Later in the day, New Zealand was to publish data on fourth quarter gross domestic product.