NZD/USD stays directed toward 0.6900 amid USD steady gains

• NZD/USD treads water on Wednesday as it fails to capitalize on the previous session’s gains.
• US Dollar Index near one-year high above 94.50 with fresh 0.22% gains.
• Kiwi remains under pressure on mixed economic data, renewed COVID-19 outbreak, China data eyed.

NZD/USD continues to grind lower on Wednesday in the Asian session. The buying pressure in the US dollar keeps NZD/USD edgy. At the time of writing, NZD/USD is trading at 0.6933, down 0.01% for the day,

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback performance against its six major rivals, trades at 94.50 near its highest since September 2020. The greenback attracts the capital flows on its safe-haven appeal amid risk on sentiment and hawkish Fed member’s.

Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said that gradual taper concluding mid-2022 may soon be warranted as the economy has made substantial progress. In the same tune, both Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard endorsed a November start. 

On the other hand, Kiwi lost its momentum on reduced risk appetite among investors in the wake of the renewed COVID-19 restrictions and mixed economic data. In the latest development, the outlook for Auckland remains grim with the number of active new coronavirus cases jumping five-fold since a week ago.

On the economic data side, Food Inflation in New Zealand jumped 4% in September on yearly basis from 2.8 in the previous month.

As for now, all eyes are on the Chinese Export data, US Core Inflation data, and FOMC minutes to take fresh trading impetus.

NZD/USD additional levels