NZD/USD continues to consolidate in tight range below 0.6450

The NZD/USD pair is having a difficult time determining its next short-term direction on Thursday and fluctuates in a tight 25-pip range. As of writing, the pair was up 0.12% on the day at 0.6442.

Persistent uncertainty on US-China trade talks

During the Asian trading hours, the sharp increase witnessed in the AUD/USD pair on the back of upbeat employment data from Australia helped the positively-correlated NZD/USD pair push higher. However, with the headlines surrounding the US-China trade conflict delivering mixed messages to the market, the pair turned indecisive in the second half of the day.

After China called the US decision to impose 10% additional tariffs on some Chinese imports as an action against the agreement that sides had reached in Osaka back in late June and said that they would take countermeasures, China's Commerce Ministry said that they were hopeful that the US could meet them halfway in trade negotiations. Additionally, China's ambassador to the UK said that he was optimistic about the future of US-China trade relations.

Later in the day, the upbeat retail sales data from the US and the heavy selling pressure surrounding the euro helped the Greenback find demand and not allowed the pair to turn north.

The US Census Bureau reported that retail sales in July rose by 0.7% on a monthly basis to beat the market expectation of 0.3%. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is at its highest level since August 2 at 98.17, adding 0.22% on a daily basis.

In the early trading hours of the Asian session, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) released by the Business NZ from will be looked upon for fresh impetus. Markets expect the PMI to improve slightly to 51.8 in July from 51.3 in June.

Technical levels to watch for