NZD/USD clings to gains above 0.7300, US GDP / Yellen speech in focus

Following a brief pause on Thursday, the NZD/USD pair resumed with its near-term bullish trajectory and extended its up-move to 0.7326 before retracing few pips to currently trade around 0.7315 region.

The pair continues to find fresh bid on any weakness below 0.7300 handle but the buying interest is not strong enough to boost the pair through 0.7345, multi-month highs touched during the early part of the current trading week amid prevalent uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance. Hence, today's speech from the Fed Chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole symposium becomes even more important in order to seek clarity over the timing of the next Fed rate-hike action. 

In the meantime, the release of revised second quarter US GDP estimate, later during NA session, could also trigger a fresh bout volatility and help market participants to grab short-term trading opportunity.

Technical levels to watch

On the upside, 0.7345-50 area remains immediate strong resistance, which if conquered should open room for further near-term appreciating move for the pair, initially towards 0.7395 (May 22, 2015 high) ahead of next major resistance near 0.7450-60 region. 

Alternatively, a sustained weakness below 0.7300-0.7290 zone might now negate the near-term bullish momentum and force the pair to break through 0.7270-65 intermediate support, towards retesting 0.7210-0.7200 important support.