Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as traders locked in profits from the greenback's broad rally on Friday sparked by far better-than-expected U.S. employment data.
NZD/USD hit 0.6566 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6549, gaining 0.44%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6495, Friday's low and a one-month low and resistance at 0.6632, Friday's high.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 271,000 jobs last month, well ahead of expectations of the 180,000 expected by economists and the largest increase since December.
The unemployment rate fell to a seven-and-a-half year low of 5.0%.
The strong data paved the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at its December meeting, a move that would make the dollar more attractive to yield-seeking investors.
Earlier in the week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said that the U.S. economy was performing well, and that December would represent a “live possibility” for raising interest rates if upcoming economic data supported it.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.27% to 1.0759.
Earlier Monday, data showed that job advertisements in Australia rose 0.4% in October after an increase of 3.8% in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 3.9% gain.