Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of tepid New Zealand manufacturing data and as markets were jittery ahead of a highly anticipated U.S. retail sales report later in the trading session.
NZD/USD hit 0.8334 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8321, easing up 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8267, the low of February 11 and resistance at 0.8368, Wednesday's high.
Data earlier showed that the Business New Zealand Manufacturing index ticked down to 56.2 in January, from a reading of 56.4 in December.
Meanwhile, investors were awaiting data on U.S. retail sales, due out later in the day, amid concerns that sales slumped in January after a 0.2% rise in December. Recent weak jobs reports have raised concerns over whether the U.S. recovery has lost momentum form the end of last year.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD sliding 0.85% to 1.0760.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia declined by 3,700 in January, compared to expectations for a 15,000 increase. December's figure was revised to a 23,000 drop from a previously estimated 22,600 decline.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment report ticked up to 6.0% last month, from 5.8% in December. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in January.
Separately, the Melbourne Institute said inflation expectations remained unchanged at 2.3% in January.