Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, but gains were expected to remain limited as fresh signs of a potential U.S. rate hike this month supported demand for the greenback.
NZD/USD hit 0.6662 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6657, rising 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6579, the low of December 1 and resistance at 0.6693, the high of December 1 and a one-month peak.
The greenback remained supported by mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its December policy meeting.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wedesday that the central bank was still on track to hike rates this month, citing "continued improvement in the labor market" and "confidence that inflation will move back to our 2% objective over the medium term."
The comments came after payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 217,000 last month, above expectations for an increase of 190,000.
The kiwi was steady against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD at 1.1002.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that the country's trade deficit widened to A$3.305 billion in October from A$2.403 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$2.317 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$2.665 billion in October.