NZD/USD steadies below 0.7050, on track to close third straight day in red

• NZD/USD came under renewed bearish pressure in American session.
• Cautious market mood is helping USD outperform its rivals.
• Consumer confidence in the US deteriorated in December.

The NZD/USD pair closed the first day of the week in the negative territory and continued to push lower on Tuesday. Although the pair staged a modest rebound during the European trading hours, it failed to preserve its momentum and turned south in the American session. As of writing, the pair was trading nearly daily lows at 0.7042, losing 0.85%.

USD gathers strength after mixed US data

The cautious market mood amid Brexit uncertainty and coronavirus concerns helped the USD find demand as a safe-haven. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which moved sideways a little above 90.00 during the first half of the day, advanced to a daily high of 90.71 before going into a consolidation phase. At the moment, the DXY is up 0.6% at 90.60.

Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index in December declined to 88.6 from 92.9 in November. Although the US Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that it revised the third-quarter GDP growth up to 33.4% from 33.1% in its previous estimate, risk-sensitive assets remained on the back foot.

There won’t be any significant macroeconomic data releases from New Zealand during the Asian session on Wednesday. Later in the day, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index will be the last data from the US ahead of the Christmas holiday. Nonetheless, the trading action is likely to turn subdued amid thinning out volumes. 

Technical levels to watch for