NZD/USD pulls away from daily lows, rises to 0.6680 on upbeat GDT auction

• GDT auction yields a 2.8% increase in the price index.
• The manufacturing sector in the U.S. remains healthy.
• US Dollar Index clings to decisive gains above 96.70.

The NZD/USD pair slumped to its lowest level since early November at 0.6662 earlier today and has started consolidating its daily losses. Helped by a 2.8% increase seen in the bi-weekly GDT auction's price index, the pair retraced a small part of its drop and was last seen trading at 0.6678, still losing 0.6% on a daily basis.

A strong rebound in the US Dollar Index seems to be the primary reason behind the bearish pressure the pair has been facing since the start of the day. After easing toward the 96 mark in the last week of 2018, the DXY gained traction on Monday and was last seen up 0.7% on the day at 96.75.

The only data from the U.S. showed that the business activity in the manufacturing sector continued to expand at a healthy pace in December. Although the IHS Markit's PMI slumped to a 15-month low of 53.8, it remained well above the 50 level, pointing to ongoing expansion.

There won't be any macroeconomic data releases from New Zealand on Thursday and investors will pay close attention to the ADP private sector employment report from the U.S. ahead of Friday's critical NFP data.

Technical levels to consider