• NZD/USD extended its slide and dropped below 0.6500 on Thursday.
• Broad-based USD strength keeps the bearish pressure on NZD/USD intact. 
• US Dollar Index climbs above 93.20 in American session.

The NZD/USD dropped to 0.6530 area during the European session and stayed quiet there for a couple of hours before coming under renewed bearish pressure. As of writing, the pair was trading at its lowest level since early July at 0.6493, losing nearly 1%, or 65 pips, on a daily basis.

DXY continues to push higher

A fresh USD-buying wave seems to be dominating FX markets in the early American session. The US Dollar Index, which rose to 93.00 after the FOMC Minutes on Wednesday, gained traction in the last hour and was last seen gaining 0.2% on the day at 93.19. The data from the US showed on Thursday that 1.1 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending August 15th. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Manufacturing Index worsened to 17.2 in August from 24.1 in July and missed the market expectation of 21. These data seem to be weighing on market sentiment and helping the USD find demand as a safe-haven. In the early trading hours of the Asian session on Friday, Credit Card Spending will be released from New Zealand. Meanwhile, investors will be keeping a close eye on US-China trade talks, which will reportedly take place in the next few days.

Technical levels to watch for