Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar slipped lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after data showed that manufacturing activity in New Zealand slowed last month and as a downbeat report from China also weighed.
NZD/USD hit 0.8262 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since January 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8275, shedding 0.41%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8214, the low of January 20 and resistance at 0.8346, Wednesday's high.
Data showed that New Zealand's business manufacturing index ticked down to 56.4 in December, from a reading of 57.0 the previous month.
The kiwi also weakened after the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to a six-month low of 49.6 in January from a final reading of 50.5 in the previous month. Analysts had expected the index to tick up to 50.6.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve will taper its stimulus program by another USD10 billion at its upcoming policy meeting next week.
The kiwi was lower against the euro, with EUR/NZD gaining 0.62% to 1.6401.
Later in the day, the U.S. was release the weekly report on initial jobless claims and a private sector report on existing home sales.