Forexpros – The New Zealand dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as announced plans in Italy to tackle the country’s sovereign debt crisis supported demand for riskier assets.

NZD/USD hit 0.7813 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7789, gaining 0.20%.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.7669, the low of November 15 and resistance at 0.7870, the high of November 11.

The kiwi was boosted after Italy, one of the most severely debt-stricken euro zone countries, unveiled a EUR30 billion package of austerity measures on Sunday, which includes raising taxes and increasing the pension age.

Market sentiment also improved ahead of a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy later Monday, to outline joint proposals for more coercive budget discipline in the single currency bloc ahead of Friday’s European Union summit.

An agreement could pave the way for an accelerated implementation of the euro zone’s rescue plan to help debt-ridden countries receive funds while encouraging bondholders to buy euro zone bonds.

Elsewhere, the kiwi was fractionally lower against the Australian dollar with AUD/NZD inching up 0.02%, to trade at 1.3143.

Earlier Monday, industry data showed that job advertisements in Australia were flat in November while a separate report showed that company operating profits in Australia fell less-than-expected in the third quarter.

Later in the day, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to release a report on service sector activity. The U.S. was also to publish government data on factory orders.

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