Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of positive Chinese trade data, while Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks on Wednesday continued to dampen demand for the greenback.
NZD/USD hit 0.8639 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8668, easing up 0.07%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8594, the low of May 2 and short-term resistance at 0.8709, Wednesday's high.
Official data earlier showed that China's imports and exports both rose in April from a year earlier, confounding expectations for a decline.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that a high degree of monetary accommodation remains warranted given the slack in the economy.
Ms. Yellen also said the Fed expects economic growth to accelerate this year despite the slowdown in the first quarter but warned that the recent housing market slowdown "could prove more protracted than currently expected."
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD climbing 0.46% to 1.0823.
Also Thursday, official data showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 14,200 in April, beating expectations for a 6,800 increase. March's figure was revised up to a 22,000 rise from a previously estimated 18,100 gain.
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8% last month, compared to expectations for an uptick to 5.9%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish the weekly report on initial jobless claims.