Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, but gains were expected to remain limited as markets were still jittery amid concerns over a potential Greek exit from the euro zone.
NZD/USD hit 0.7750 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since January 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7729, advancing 0.56%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7616, Monday's low and a two-and-a-half year low and resistance at 0.7804, the high of January 2.
Investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro zone if far-left anti-austerity party Syriza won elections due to be held later this month.
Asian equity markets plummeted overnight, as falling oil prices and concerns over the outlook for the euro zone economy sparked a selloff in stocks.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback continued to be underpinned by the diverging policy outlook between the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Japan.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates in the coming year as the steady economic recovery in the U.S. continues.
The kiwi was steady against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD at 1.0517.
Also Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the country's trade deficit widened to A$0.93 billion in November from A$0.88 billion in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$1.32 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$1.59 billion in November.