NZD/USD consolidating in a narrow range below 0.7300 handle

Following last week's positive closing for the sixth consecutive week, the NZD/USD pair had a quiet start on Monday and consolidated in a 15-pips narrow trading range below the 0.7300 handle.

Last week, the pair regained traction after RBNZ held official cash rates at record lows but sounded less dovish than many investors had expected. This coupled with St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard's remarks that the Fed should hold back from raising interest rates further and see how the economy is progressing, provided an additional boost to the major on Friday and lifted it back closer to the 0.7300 handle.

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Investors now look forward to the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's scheduled speech on Tuesday for some fresh insights over the central bank's monetary policy outlook. Hence, a modest pick-up in the US Treasury bond yields, which tends to underpin the US Dollar demand, kept a lid on any further up-move for higher-yielding currencies - like the Kiwi.

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On the economic data front, today's release of durable goods orders from the US, due for release during early NA session, would now be looked upon for some fresh impetus ahead of NZ trade balance data during early Asian session on Tuesday.

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would be eyeing for a decisive break through the 0.7300 handle, above which the pair is likely to aim towards surpassing 4-month highs resistance near 0.7320 region and head towards testing its next resistance near mid-0.7300s.

On the downside, retracement back below 0.7265 level, leading to a subsequent drop below mid-0.7200s, might turn the pair vulnerable to head back towards retesting the 0.7200 handle en-route disappointing NZ GDP-led swing lows support near 0.7185 level.