- Durable goods orders in the U.S. declined by 1.6% in February.
- US Dollar Index clings to modest daily gains after data.
- Weak business confidence data in NZ weighs on NZD.
The NZD/USD pair came under strong selling pressure in the Asian session on Tuesday and extended its slide in the early NA session to touch its lowest level since March 8 at 0.6756. As of writing, the pair was trading a couple of pips above that recent low, losing 0.7% on a daily basis.
The NZIER’s Business Confidence Survey showed a 29% decline in the business confidence following the 17% drop seen in the fourth quarter of 2018 and weighed on the kiwi. Moreover, The RBA’s dovish tone and the subsequent drop witnessed in the AUD/USD pair put additional weight on the kiwi’s shoulders. In the early Asian session, the ANZ’s Commodity Price Index will be the next data to potentially impact the NZD’s market valuation.
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index pushed higher for the fifth straight day on Tuesday and dragged the pair lower. Although today’s data from the U.S. was uninspiring, the greenback preserved its strength with investors staying away from European currencies. The U.S. Census Bureau announced that durable goods orders in February contracted by 1.6% on a monthly basis to come in slightly better than the market expectation of -1.8%. However, further details of the report showed that the durable goods orders excluding defence contracted by 1.9% to miss analysts’ estimate of +0.1% by a wide margin.
Technical levels to consider
The pair could face the initial support at 0.6745 (Mar. 7 low) ahead of 0.6725/20 (200-DMA/Feb. 12 low) and 0.6670 (Jan. 4 low). On the upside, resistance could be seen at 0.6800 (psychological level/100-DMA), 0.6830 (50-DMA) and 0.6875 (Mar. 12 high).
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