NZD/USD erases tepid recovery gains, turns flat at 0.7135

The NZD/USD pair erased all of its early tepid recovery gains to 0.7160 level and has now turned neutral to currently trade around 0.7135 region.

A fresh wave of US Dollar buying interest emerged during early NA session as market players now seem convinced that the Fed would eventually move towards raising interest rates by the end of this year, which is eventually weighing on higher-yielding currency - Kiwi. Moreover, speculations of further monetary easing by RBNZ at its meeting in November is further undermining the NZ Dollar and restricting any swift recovery for the major. 

The selling pressure around the pair seems to have halted for the time being as US Dollar bulls were unimpressed by disappointing release of consumer confidence index, which fell more-than-expected in October and came-in at 98.6 as compared to September's 103.5 and 101.0 expected.

Focus now shifts to this week's key US macro releases - monthly durable goods orders and advance GDP print for the third quarter of 2016, slated for release during the latter part of the week. In the meantime, Wednesday's release of Australian quarterly CPI print might provide some impetus for the NZD/USD pair as well.

Technical levels to watch

From current levels, 0.7100 handle remains immediate support to defend below which the pair is likely to accelerate the slide immediately towards October monthly lows support near 0.7045-35 region. On the upside, momentum above session peak resistance near 0.7160 could get extended but is likely to confront strong resistance at 100-day SMA near 0.7190 region.