Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar slid lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as the greenback regained some ground ahead of U.S. jobless claims data due later in the day after a report on Wednesday showed that private employment rose more than expected last month.
NZD/USD hit 0.7126 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7131, sliding 0.30%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7081, the low of June 2 and resistance at 0.7207, the high of June 2.
Market participants were looking to the weekly report on U.S. jobless claims due later in the day, as well as Friday's nonfarm payrolls data for further indications on the strength of the country's job market.
On Wednesday, payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 201,000 last month, just above expectations for an increase of 200,000.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD declining 0.55% to 1.0825.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales were flat in April, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise. The change in retail sales for March was revised to a 0.2% uptick from a previously estimated 0.3% gain.
A separate report showed that Australia's trade deficit widened to A$3.88 billion in April from A$1.23 billion in March, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$1.32 billion.