Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar slipped to one-week lows against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as the greenback remained broadly supported after Tuesday's U.S. data and ahead of the Federal Reserve's monthly policy statement.
NZD/USD hit 0.7372 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7339, easing 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7314, the low of May 13 and resistance at 0.7444, Tuesday's high.
Demand for the greenback remained broadly supported after the U.S. Commerce Department said that the number of building permits issued last month increased by 10.1% last month to 1.143 million units from March's total of 1.038 million.
The report also showed that U.S. housing starts soared by 20.2% in April to hit 1.135 million units from March's total of 944,000 units, easily surpassing expectations for an increase of 9.9%.
Investors were eyeing the minutes of the Federal Reserve's April meeting, due later in the day, for fresh indications on the timing of an initial rate hike.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD edging down 0.19% to 1.0755.
Earlier Wednesday, the Westpac Banking Corporation said that consumer sentiment rose 6.4% this month, after a 3.2% decline in April.