Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar pushed higher against the U.S. dollar on Monday but gains were held in check as unease over emerging markets continued to support safe haven demand for the greenback.
NZD/USD hit session highs of 0.8122 and was last up 0.19% to 0.8102. The pair tumbled to four-and-a-half month lows of 0.8061 on Friday amid a broad based selloff in stocks, bonds and currencies perceived as risky.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8061 and resistance at 0.8150.
The kiwi found some support after official data released over the weekend showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 50.5 in January from 51.0 the previous month, in line with market expectations.
Although the reading was a five-month low it was stronger than revised data last week showing that China’s HSBC manufacturing index ticked down to a six-month low of 49.5 this month.
A separate report on Monday showed that China’s official services PMI slowed to 53.4 month, from 54.6 in December.
Emerging markets have been hard hit by concerns over the impact of reductions in Federal Reserve stimulus and fears over a possible slowdown in China.
Elsewhere, the kiwi was fractionally higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD dipping 0.07% to 1.0812.
The Australian dollar was steady ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate review on Tuesday, amid expectations that it would keep interest rates on hold.
The RBA was expected to shift its stance away from lower rates after recent economic data indicated a pickup in consumer spending and business conditions and continued strengthening in the housing market.