Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as markets digested Friday's downbeat Chinese factory data, though it continued to weigh on commodity-linked currencies.
NZD/USD hit 0.6614 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6604, gaining 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6553, Friday's low and resistance at 0.6697, the high of July 23.
Private sector data showed on Friday that manufacturing activity in China slowed to a 15-month low in July.
The preliminary reading of the Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.2 from a final reading of 49.4 in June. It was the lowest reading since April 2014.
The weak data indicated that growth in China, the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, remains sluggish.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after the Commerce Department reported that new home sales fell 6.8% last month, to an annual rate of 482,000 units, the lowest level since November.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.26% to 1.1032.