Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar tumbled over 1% to five-year lows against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after data showed that New Zealand's economy grew at a slower pace than expected in the first quarter.
NZD/USD hit 0.6881 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since July 2010; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6899, plummeting 1.28%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6790 and resistance at 0.6992, the session high.
Statistics New Zealand earlier reported that the country's gross domestic product rose by 0.2% in the first quarter, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.6%, following a growth rate of 0.8% in the last three months of 2014.
Year-on-year, New Zealand GDP rose by 2.6% in the three months to March, less than the expected 3.0% increase and after a growth rate of 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after the Federal Reserve lowered both its U.S. growth forecast and its interest-rate projections, prompting investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank wanted to see "more decisive evidence" of sustained growth before raising rates, but acknowledged that the economy has "expanded moderately" after a weak first quarter.
The kiwi was also sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/NZD rallying 1.35% to 1.6448.