By FX Empire.com

The NZD/USD pair dropped last week where the Kiwi lost grounds against the dollar and most of its major counterparts, as the EU leaders didn’t announce their plan to contain the EU debt crisis, which pushed investors to abandon higher-yielding currencies amid the high uncertainty.

Moreover, Kiwi extended its losses against the dollar as China’s stock market fell to the lowest in 31 months as signs of a slowing economy sent metal prices plunging while Germany and France’s disagreement over Europe’s rescue strategy threatens the global outlook.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand economy gives some signs of picking up as rising consumer spending and employment add to evidence the nation’s economy is expanding modestly, buoyed by record-low interest rates and a surge in commodity prices

Lack of confidence and uncertainty regarding the EU debt crisis future, drove the lower-yielding currencies up as investors consider them safe haven, the greenback also recovered some of the previous losses against the European currencies and the New Zealand dollar.

Major highlights for this week that will affect the NZD/USD pair’s trading:

Monday October 24:

On Monday at 21:45 GMT, New Zealand economy will release the Consumer Prices Index for the third quarter, where it had a previous reading of 1.0% and expected to retreat to 0.7%.

The annual Consumer Prices Index for the third quarter is expected to come at 4.9% compare to the previous reading of 5.3%.

Tuesday October 25:

On Tuesday, the U.S. economy will release the Consumer Confidence for October at 14:00 GMT, where it’s expected to come at 46.3 from the previous 45.4. The House Price Index for August is due at 14:00 GMT which had a previous reading of 0.8%.

Wednesday October 26:

On Wednesday at 00:00 GMT, New Zealand will issue the NBNZ Activity Outlook for October, where the previous reading was 35.4. The NBNZ Business Confidence for October will be released at the same time, and it had a prior reading of 30.3.

At 12:30 GMT, the U.S. economy will release the Durable Goods Orders for September, where it’s expected to come at -0.7% from the previous -0.1%, while Durables Excluding Transportation is expected to come at 0.5% from the previous -0.1%.

New Home Sales for September will released at 14:00 GMT, with a previous reading of 295 thousand and it’s expected to rise to 300 thousand by 1.7%.

Thursday October 27:

On Thursday at 20:00 GMT (Wednesday), the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its rate decision for October, where it’s expected to keep the rate steady at 2.50%.

At 21:45 GMT New Zealand will release the Trade Balance for September, where the previous reading showed a deficit of 641 million and expected to shrink to 440 million.

The New Zealand Imports for September will be released at 21:45 GMT, where the expectations refer to 3.90 billion from the previous 4.08 billion. The Exports had a previous reading of 3.44 billion and expected to advance to 3.90 million.

On Thursday at 12:30 GMT the U.S. economy will release the annualized Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter, where the advanced reading is expected to show a growth of 2.3% from the previous 1.3%.

U.S. Personal Consumption is expected to show a rise of 1.9% from the prior 0.7%, while Core PCE is expected to come at 2.3% in line with the previous quarter.

On Thursday at 12:30 GMT, the U.S. economy will issue its weekly initial claims numbers, where the number of people filing for first-time claims for state unemployment insurance increased 403 thousand last week.

The U.S. Pending Home Sales for September is expected to come at 0.1% from -1.2%, while the annual reading had a prior reading of 13.1%.

Friday October 28:

On Friday, the U.S. Personal Income for September will be released at 12:30 GMT and it’s expected to come at 0.3% from the previous -0.1%, the Personal Spending Index had a prior reading of 0.2% and expected to come at 0.6%.

The Core PCE for September had a previous reading of 1.6% and expected to rise to 1.8%.

The University of Michigan Confidence will be released at 13:55 GMT, where it’s expected to come at 57.8 from the previous reading of 57.5.

Read more Weekly Forex Analysis here.