On Wednesday the New Zealand dollar dropped to three-week lows against its U.S. rival, after the release of downbeat employment data
from New Zealand, although the greenback's gains remained limited.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was higher vs the greenback, despite the data showing that Australian retail sales rose less than expected in March, as demand for the greenback remained broadly under pressure.
NZD/USD hit 0.7460 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since April 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7499, retreating 0.78%. The pair was likely to find support at 0.7436, the low of April 14 and resistance at 0.7581, Wednesday's high.
Statistics New Zealand said in a report that the amount of employed people rose by 0.7% in the first quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.8% gain, after an increase of 1.2% in the last three months of 2014.
The report indicated that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.8% in the three months to March from 5.7% in the previous quarter, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.5%.
The kiwi was also sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/NZD rallying 1.44% to 1.5012.
AUD/USD hit 0.7975 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since April 30; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7977, gaining 0.43%. The pair was likely to find support at 0.7860, the low of April 30 and resistance at 0.8029, the high of April 30.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier reported that retail
sales rose 0.3% in March, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% gain,
after a 0.7% increase the previous month. Quarter-on-quarter, retail sales rose by 0.7% in the first three
months of 2015, confounding expectations for a 0.9% increase, after a
revised 1.2% gain the previous quarter, says Investing.com.
Demand for the dollar was fragile as mixed U.S. economic reports on Tuesday did little to support optimism over the strength of the nation's recovery.
The Institute of Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index rose to a five-month high of 57.8 last month, above forecasts for a reading of 56.2.
At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the trade deficit widened to $51.37 billion in March, the highest level since 1996 in March.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release its monthly ADP nonfarm payrolls report.
