New Zealand dollar reduced earlier gains against the greenback on trading Thursday, as market players were focusing on the weekly report of US initial jobless claims, scheduled for release later in the day.
NZD/USD came off a session high at 0.7981, recorded at 6:43 GMT, to trade at 0.7971 at 9:28 GMT, ticking down a mere 0.04% for the day. Support for the pair was likely to be received at August 1st low, 0.7853, while resistance was to be encountered at July 30th high, 0.8036.
Earlier today a report said that Chinese export rose by 5.1% in June on annual basis, easing fears of a slow down in the second largest economy worldwide. Import figure, on the other hand, advanced 10.9% in June annually, supported by increased domestic demand. Economists predicted a 1% rise during last month. This report gave a certain boost to the kiwi dollar earlier today, because China is New Zealands second largest export partner.
In the mean time, the US dollar came under pressure, as recent economic data from the United States fueled the uncertainty over the future of Federal Reserve’s monthly asset purchases. Chicago Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Charles Evans said that he would not rule out the withdrawal of central bank’s stimulus measures at the bank’s meeting in September.
Additionally, the United States was to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims later in the trading day. The median estimate pointed an increase by 9 000 during last week compared to the recorded five-year low at 326 000 the week before. Better than projected numbers would certainly heighten the appeal of the US dollar.
Elsewhere, New Zealand dollar was trading lower against its Australian counterpart, as AUD/NZD cross advanced 0.67% to 1.1371 at 9:37 GMT.