Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, despite the release of lower-than-expected retail sales data out of New Zealand, while investors eyed U.S. producer price inflation data due later in the day.
NZD/USD hit 0.8664 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8648, rising 0.23%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8549, the low of April 30 and resistance at 0.8709, the high of May 7.
Official data earlier showed that retail sales in New Zealand rose 0.7% in the first quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.9% increase, after a 1.2% advance in the previous quarter.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobiles and gas stations, rose 0.8% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.9% gain. Core retail sales in the fourth quarter of 2013 were revised up to a 1% increase from a previously estimated 0.7% rise.
The data came after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said, in its Financial Stability Report, that house sales declined 11% between October and March, following the introduction of mortgage lending restrictions.
The central bank added that it had expected sales to fall by between 3% and 8% in the year through October 2014.
The kiwi was higher against the euro, with EUR/NZD slipping 0.12% to 1.5861.