NZD/USD trades little changed before US Q3 GDP

New Zealand dollar traded little changed against its US rival on Thursday, as markets awaited the release of the preliminary value of US Gross Domestic Product for Q3 later in the day.

NZD/USD touched a session high at 0.8386 at 8:22 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 0.8377, dipping a mere 0.01% for the day. Support for the pair was to be received at November 5th low, 0.8260, while resistance was to be encountered at November 6th high, 0.8415.

United States preliminary Gross Domestic Product probably expanded at a 2% annualized rate during the third quarter of the year, slowing down in comparison with the 2.5% growth, recorded during the previous three months, according to the median estimate of economists in another survey. The official GDP report is due to be released later in the day. The predicted rate of growth is in consonance with the average pace since the fall of 2010, underscoring that economy is struggling to gain momentum, while this also explains why Federal Reserve policymakers are persistent in their course of maintaining the monetary stimulus. The 16 days of partial government shutdown, which obstructed corporate and consumer spending in the country, urged most experts to revise down their growth forecasts for Q4.

Experts at High Frequency Economics Ltd. suggested that Q3 GDP might also be influenced by a lesser gain in home construction, due to rising mortgage rates, Bloomberg imparted.

On the other hand, non-farm payrolls in the United States probably rose by 120 000 in October, following a 148 000 gain in September, a separate poll pointed. US Department of Labor is expected to release the official figures on Friday.

The greenback found strong support against peers on Tuesday, after the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that the non-manufacturing PMI for the United States climbed to a reading of 55.4 in October from 54.4 in September, while preliminary estimates pointed a slow down to 54.0 in October. This result indicated that business entities in the country were looking beyond the political impasse that led to 16 days of partial government shutdown.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar climbed to one-week highs against its US peer on Wednesday, after Statistics New Zealand said that employment in the country rose 1.2%, or 27 000 new jobs, during the third quarter of the year compared to the second quarter, marking the strongest increase since early 2007 and significantly exceeding preliminary estimates of a 0.5% gain. In annual terms, employment increased 2.4% in Q3, again outstripping projections of a 1.6% gain.

At the same time, the rate of unemployment in New Zealand fell to 6.2% during the third quarter from 6.4% during the second. Experts had anticipated that unemployment will decrease to 6.1% in Q3.

Elsewhere, the kiwi dollar was lower against the euro, with EUR/NZD cross gaining 0.19% on a daily basis to trade at 1.6165 at 9:48 GMT. AUD/NZD pair was falling 0.27% to trade at 1.1345 at 9:50 GMT.