NZD/USD holding tepid recovery gains to 0.7235

The NZD/USD pair held on to its tepid recovery gains but a broadly stronger greenback is hindering its efforts to move beyond mid-0.7200s.

Currently trading around 0.7235-40 band, the pair during Asian session on Monday was seen building on to Friday's sharp reversal of over 150-pips from a 15-month high level of 0.7380 and dropped to 5-day low before finding some support at lower level that assisted the pair to move back above 20-day SMA region.

Today's US economic releases, showing consumer prices inching closer to the Fed's 2% target, did little in terms of providing fresh impetus for the pair as traders now turn their attention to one of the most keenly watched US economic indicators, monthly jobs report (NFP) scheduled for release on Friday. 

Friday's employment details for the month of August would help investors gauge the possibilities of a September Fed rate-hike decision and trigger a fresh leg of directional move for the greenback. 

Technical levels to watch

From current levels 0.7250 remains immediate hurdle, which if cleared should boost the pair immediately towards 0.7280-85 horizontal resistance before aiming towards reclaiming 0.7300 handle. On the flip side, sustained weakness back below 20-day SMA near 0.7227, leading to a subsequent break below session low support near 0.7210, seems to drag the pair towards testing 50-day SMA support near 0.7170 region.