Forexpros – The New Zealand dollar slipped to a four-day low against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as market sentiment waned ahead of a Spanish government bond auction amid sustained concerns over the country’s ability to handle its financial woes.
NZD/USD hit 0.8151 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since April 11; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8153, declining 0.72%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8115, the low of March 29 and resistance at 0.8219, the high of April 11.
Markets were jittery as Spain was due to auction up to EUR3 billion of 12 and 18-month government bonds later Tuesday, as concerns mounted that the government will not be able to meet deficit reduction targets in the face of a looming recession.
Sentiment was hit on Monday after the cost of insuring Spanish sovereign debt against default rose to a record, pushing the yield on the country’s 10-year bonds above 6% for the first time since early December.
Elsewhere, the kiwi was also lower against the Australian dollar with AUD/NZD adding 0.15%, to hit 1.2645.
Also Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in the minutes of its April monetary policy meeting that an interest rate cut was likely next month if inflation was soft, in a bid to shore up the nation’s economy.
In addition, official data showed that new motor vehicle sales in Australia rose 4.0% in March after a 0.2% rise the previous month.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce government data on building permits, housing starts and industrial production.
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