Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar climbed against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as traders locked in profits from the greenback's broad rally sparked by further signs of a possible U.S. rate hike before the year-end.
NZD/USD hit 0.6546 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since November 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6526, gaining 0.83%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6430, Wednesday's low and a one-month low and resistance at 0.6585, the high of November 16.
The greenback strengthened broadly after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's October meeting showed on Wednesday that a majority of board members are in favor of a December rate hike.
"While no decision had been made, it may well become appropriate to initiate the normalization process at the next meeting," the minutes said.
The report came after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that housing starts dropped 11% to 1.060 million units last month from September’s total of 1.191 million units. Analysts had expected a decline of 3.9% to 1.160 million.
Meanwhile, the number of U.S. building permits issued rose 4.1% to 1.150 million units from September’s total of 1.105 million, broadly in line with market expectations.
The kiwi was higher against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.21% to 1.0962.