COZforex: The New Zealand dollar edged higher against its US counterpart on Monday, but gains were capped as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting of the year, this week.
NZD/USD hit 0.8288 amid late Asian trade, the pair's highest since December 12; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8285, adding 0.22%. COZFX strategist Nigel Boynton said, NZD/USD was likely to find support at 0.8204, the low of December 13 and resistance at 0.8334, the high of December 10.
Investors were eyeing the outcome of the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting on Wednesday, with some expecting the bank to announce a small reduction in the pace of its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.
Recent signs of improvement in the labor market and last week’s agreement on a two-year U.S. budget deal were seen as removing obstacles to the winding back of monetary stimulus.
But with the inflation outlook remaining subdued the Fed may prefer to hold off on tapering stimulus measures until it sees more indications that the recovery is self-sustaining.
Elsewhere, data earlier showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index ticked down to a three-month low of 50.5 in December from a final reading of 50.8 in November. Economists had expected the index to rise to 51.0.
Later in the day, the US was to release reports on industrial production, manufacturing activity in the New York region and the balance of foreign and domestic investment in U.S. securities.
(COZ forex UK)
NZD/USD hit 0.8288 amid late Asian trade, the pair's highest since December 12; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8285, adding 0.22%. COZFX strategist Nigel Boynton said, NZD/USD was likely to find support at 0.8204, the low of December 13 and resistance at 0.8334, the high of December 10.
Investors were eyeing the outcome of the Fed’s upcoming policy meeting on Wednesday, with some expecting the bank to announce a small reduction in the pace of its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.
Recent signs of improvement in the labor market and last week’s agreement on a two-year U.S. budget deal were seen as removing obstacles to the winding back of monetary stimulus.
But with the inflation outlook remaining subdued the Fed may prefer to hold off on tapering stimulus measures until it sees more indications that the recovery is self-sustaining.
Elsewhere, data earlier showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing index ticked down to a three-month low of 50.5 in December from a final reading of 50.8 in November. Economists had expected the index to rise to 51.0.
Later in the day, the US was to release reports on industrial production, manufacturing activity in the New York region and the balance of foreign and domestic investment in U.S. securities.
(COZ forex UK)