Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as upbeat Chinese trade data and stability in Asian markets lifted sentiment.
NZD/USD hit 0.6590 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since January 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6554, adding 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6506, the low of January 11 and a one-and-a-half month low and resistance at 0.6685, the high of January 8.
Data earlier showed that China’s trade surplus widened to $60.09 billion in December from $54.10 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade surplus to narrow to $53.00 billion last month.
China’s imports declined at an annual rate of 7.6% last month, compared to expectations for a 11.5% drop, while exports fell 1.4% compared to expectations for a 8.0% slide.
China is New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, sentiment improved after the People's Bank of China set the mid-point for the yuan at 6.5630 to the dollar, unchanged from firm fixes on the previous two days.
The fixing came as the central bank put a squeeze on offshore sellers of the currency by making it prohibitively expensive to speculate against the yuan in offshore markets, easing fears of a sustained depreciation.
The kiwi was lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD edging up 0.10% to 1.0695.