Kiwi drops sharply against greenback as Chinese data still weighs Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar tumbled over 1% against its U.S....
Kiwi drops sharply against greenback as Chinese data still weighs
Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar tumbled over 1% against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as Friday's weak factory data from China continued to weigh on Asian markets.
NZD/USD hit 0.6577 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since August 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6602, losing 1.26%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6524, the low of August 17 and resistance at 0.6711, the high of August 21.
Data on Friday showed that manufacturing activity in China contracted at the fastest rate in six-and-a-half years in August, exacerbating fears over a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
The preliminary reading of the Caixin China manufacturing purchasing managers' indexcame in at 47.1, down from July's final reading of 47.8.
It was the weakest level since March 2009 and was well below the 50 level separating expansion from contraction.
The weak data underlined fears over the outlook for global growth.
Financial markets have been roiled since China devalued the yuan on August 11, sparking a selloff in equities, commodities and emerging-market assets.
China is New Zealand's second biggest export partner.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD rising 0.23% to 1.0961.