NZD/USD trims early strong gains to over 2-week tops

   •  An uptick in the US bond yields/USD capped gains.
   •  US consumer confidence data/Fedspeaks eyed for fresh impetus.

The NZD/USD pair trimmed some of its gains and retreated around 20-pips from over two-week tops touched earlier today.

The pair built on overnight up-move and gained strong bullish traction during the Asian session on Tuesday, in what could be termed as a short-covering rally following yesterday's decisive break through the 0.6900 handle. 

Further gains, however, remained capped amid a follow-through uptick in the US Treasury bond yields, which helped the US Dollar to edge up slightly and was eventually seen keeping a lid on demand for higher-yielding currencies - like the Kiwi.

With December Fed rate hike move nearly priced in the market, the Fed Chair Designate Jerome Powell's confirmation hearing is unexpected to have any major impact on the greenback, while the release of US CB consumer confidence index might provide some short-term trading impetus. 

Also in focus would be scheduled speeches by New York Fed President William Dudley, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and the US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Technical levels to watch

The 0.6900 handle now becomes an immediate support to defend, which if broken could accelerate the slide back towards 0.6875-70 horizontal support en-route mid-0.6800s. On the upside, bulls would be eyeing for a follow-through bullish momentum beyond 0.6945 level, above which the pair is likely to aim towards reclaiming the key 0.70 psychological mark en-route 50-day SMA barrier near the 0.7015-20 region.