Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, hovering close to six-month lows as demand for the greenback strengthened after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting.
NZD/USD hit 0.8349 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since February; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8375.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8052 and resistance at 0.8425, Wednesday's high.
The greenback found broad support after Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s July meeting showed that some officials believe the strengthening recovery and ongoing improvement in the labor market supports a move towards tightening monetary policy.
Other officials want to see further evidence of economic recovery before moving towards raising rates.
Investors were looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole on Friday for further indications on the possible future direction of monetary policy.
Elsewhere, data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index fell to a three month low of 50.3 in August from 51.7 in July and well short of forecasts for 51.5.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.23% to 1.1064.
Also Thursday, the Conference Board said that its leading index for Australia rose 0.4% in June, after a 0.2% gain the previous month.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce data on unemployment claims, manufacturing activity and existing home sales.