NZD/USD turns negative on the day below 0.6950 as DXY gains traction

• NZD/USD lost its traction after renewing weekly high at 0.6967.
• US Dollar Index extends recovery beyond 93.00 on Wednesday.
• Durable Goods Orders in US fell less than expected in July.

Following an impressive two-day rally, the NZD/USD pair reached its highest level in a week at 0.6967 on Wednesday but failed to preserve its bullish momentum in the second half of the day. As of writing, the pair was down 0.06% on a daily basis at 0.6944.

DXY pushes higher after Durable Goods Orders data

The renewed USD strength seems to be forcing NZD/USD to edge lower in the early American session. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which lost 0.6% in the first two days of the week, is up 0.2% at 93.06.

Earlier in the day, the data from the US revealed that Durable Goods Orders in July declined by 0.1% on a monthly basis. This reading came in better than the market expectation for a decrease of 0.3% and helped the greenback outperform its rivals.

Earlier in the day, Statistics New Zealand announced that the trade deficit widened slightly in July but this report was largely ignored by market participants.

In the meantime, Wall Street's main indexes remain on track to open near Tuesday's closing levels, suggesting that the neutral market sentiment is likely to allow the DXY to stay in the positive territory.

Technical levels to watch for