Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar dropped against its U.S. counterpart in quiet trade on Monday, as demand for the greenback remained supported after Friday's U.S. jobs data fuelled further expectations for a September rate hike.
NZD/USD hit 0.6600 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6605, declining 0.48%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6527, the low of August 7 and resistance at 0.6682, the high of July 31.
The Labor Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy added 215,000 jobs last month, slightly lower than forecasts for an increase of 223,000, but still consistent with strong employment growth.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3%, in line with expectations.
Hourly earnings, a component of the jobs report that the Federal Reserve has said must rise, ticked up 0.2%, also matching forecasts after stalling in the previous month.
The data was seen as reinforcing expectations for higher U.S. interest rates.
In the past three months the greenback has been boosted by investor expectations that the Fed will raise short term interest rates in the coming months, possibly as early as September.
The kiwi was steady against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD at 1.1189.