NZD/USD retreats from daily highs as USD gathers strength
- Upbeat data from the U.S. boost the greenback.
- US Dollar Index advances to fresh 8-day highs.
- Coming up: Speech by Fed's Quarles and NZ visitor arrivals.
After rising to a fresh daily high at 0.6580, the NZD/USD pair lost its traction and erased a portion of its daily upside in the NA session as greenback started to gather strength. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.6560, still up 0.15% on a daily basis.
Earlier in the U.S. session, the Philadelphia Fed announced that the headline general business activity index of its Manufacturing Survey edged down to 22.2 in October from 22.9 but surpassed the market expectation of 22. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the initial weekly jobless claims fell to 210,000. Finally, the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index improved to 111.8. "However, the LEI’s growth has slowed somewhat in recent months, suggesting the economy may be facing capacity constraints and increasingly tight labor markets," the CB noted.
Boosted by the data, the US Dollar Index rose to its highest level in eight days at 95.78 and was last seen at 95.72, where it was up 0.07% on the day.
Later in the day, Randal Keith Quarles, a member and vice chair for supervision of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, will be delivering a speech. Moreover, the Statistics New Zealand will publish the visitor arrivals data in the early trading hours of the Asian session.
Technical levels to consider
On the upside, the pair could face the initial resistance at 0.6580 (daily high/50-DMA) ahead of 0.6640 (Sep. 28 high) and 0.6675 (100-DMA). On the downside, supports align at 0.6535 (daily low), 0.6500 (psychological level) and 0.6440 (Oct. 19 low).
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
