NZD/USD flirting with six-week lows near 0.7100 handle

Having posted a session high near mid-0.7100s, the NZD/USD pair came under renewed selling pressure and now seems to have confirmed a break-down below important moving averages confluence support near the 0.7145-35 region.

The pair momentarily dipped below the 0.7100 handle and touched its lowest level since Jan. 17 amid persistent greenback demand against the backdrop of rising bets for an imminent Fed rate-hike action and resumption of Trump-relfation trade. 

Recent comments from various FOMC officials have been fueling expectations that the Federal Reserve would seriously consider raising interest-rates at its March meeting. 

In addition to this, renewed optimism surrounding Trump's fiscal policies led economic growth, following Tuesday's address to the Congress, further supported the strong bullish sentiment around the buck. 

The pair failed to benefit from RBNZ Governor Wheeler’s neutral bias, with the US Dollar price dynamics being an exclusive driver of the pair's movement on Thursday.

With the only scheduled release of weekly jobless claims data, a relatively thin US economic docket seems unlikely to hinder the greenback's ongoing bullish momentum and thus, increases the possibilities of further depreciating move during NA session.

Technical levels to watch

A follow through selling pressure below 0.7100 handle is likely to accelerate the slide towards 0.7075 horizontal support before the pair eventually drops to its next support near 0.7025-20 region. On the upside, 0.7145-50 area now becomes immediate hurdle, which if conquered seems to boost the pair back towards 0.7185-90 horizontal resistance ahead of 0.7220-25 strong barrier.