Forexpros – The New Zealand dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as risk sentiment weakened ahead of a French government debt auction amid sustained concerns over the financial crisis in the euro zone.
NZD/USD hit 0.7852 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7868, shedding 0.09%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7805, the low of November 9 and resistance at 0.7927, the high of November 14.
Investors were cautious as France was preparing to sell up to 8 billion euros in 10 to 30-year government debt one day after an auction of German 10-year bonds met with subdued investor demand.
A downbeat result was likely to fuel fears that France could lose its triple-A credit rating in the coming weeks.
Investors were also eyeing a meeting on Friday between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti to discuss ways of handling the debt crisis in the single currency area.
Meanwhile, the kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar with AUD/NZD declining 0.20%, to hit 1.3135.
Earlier Thursday, official data showed that Australia’s trade balance rose less-than-expected in December, advancing to a seasonally adjusted AUD1.38 billion from AUD1.60B the previous month.
Analysts had expected Australia’s trade balance to rise to AUD1.66B in December.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP report on private sector employment as well as data on initial jobless claims and service sector activity.
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