NZD/USD spikes to near 2-week tops, climbs further beyond mid-0.6800s

   “¢   Remains well bid for the third consecutive session amid the prevalent USD selling bias.
   “¢   Softer US CPI figures exert some additional pressure on the already weaker USD.
   “¢   Bulls might now eye a move towards conquering the 0.6900 round figure mark.

The NZD/USD pair finally broke out of its daily consolidative trading range and spiked through mid-0.6800s to hit near two-week tops in the last hour.

The pair built on its recent goodish bounce from the very important 200-day SMA and caught some aggressive bids during the early North-American session in wake of some fresh US Dollar selling bias following the release of softer US CPI print.  

The headline CPI came in to show that consumer price growth eased to the slowest pace since Sept. 2016 and exerted some additional pressure on the already weaker greenback, which eventually pushed the pair higher for the third consecutive session.

Meanwhile, the market reaction turned out to be rather short-lived, with the prevalent positive tone around the US Treasury bond yields providing some immediate respite to the USD bulls and keeping a lid on any runaway rally for the major.

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to capitalize on the positive momentum or runs out of steam ahead of the 0.6900 handle as traders now look forward to the Fed Governor Lael Brainard’s scheduled speech for some fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch

Any subsequent up-move is likely to confront some fresh supply near the 0.6880-85 region, above which the pair is likely to surpass the 0.6900 handle and aim towards testing its next major hurdle near the 0.6930-40 area. On the flip side, the 0.6840 level now seems to protect the immediate downside, which if broken might accelerate the fall further towards the 0.6800-0.6790 support zone.