NZD/USD pares early losses, stays below 0.7000
- NZD/USD is edging higher during the European session.
- US Dollar Index stays in the negative territory below 92.80.
- New Zealand posted a trade surplus in June.
The NZD/USD pair closed the previous week modestly lower and edged lower during the Asian trading hours on Monday. With the greenback struggling to find demand in the European session, however, the pair managed to stage a rebound and was last seen posting small daily gains at 0.6980.
Earlier in the day, the data from New Zealand showed that the trade surplus narrowed to NZD261 million in June from NZD489 million in July. Consequently, the annual trade deficit widened to -NZD0.252 billion from -NZD0.041 billion, making it difficult for the NZD to gather strength against its rivals.
DXY moves sideways below 93.00
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index (DXY) stays in a consolidation phase below 93.00 at the start of the week as investors seem to be opting out to stay on the sidelines while waiting for this week's key event and data releases. Currently, the DXY is down 0.15% at 92.75.
In the meantime, US stocks futures are modestly lower on Monday, suggesting that the risk perception will not be able to provide a directional clue to the pair in the second half of the day.
On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve will announce its Interest Rate Decision and publish the Monetary Policy statement. On Thursday, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis will release its first estimate of the second-quarter GDP growth before publishing the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index data on Friday.
Technical levels to watch for