NZD/USD extends slide to fresh multi-month lows below 0.6950

• NZD/USD remains under strong bearish pressure on Friday.
• Hawkish Fed commentary provides a boost to USD in early American session.
• US Dollar Index climbed to new multi-month tops above 92.00.

The NZD/USD pair lost more than 100 pips in the previous two days and struggled to stage a convincing rebound on Friday. After breaking below 0.7000, the pair extended its slide and touched its weakest level since late March at 0.6949. As of writing, NZD/USD was down 0.53% on the day at 0.6960.

Hawkish Fed commentary fuels DXY rally

The broad-based USD strength weighed heavily on NZD/USD in the second half of the week and the kiwi failed to capitalize on the stronger-than-expected GDP growth figure from New Zealand. With the US Dollar Index (DXY) preserving its bullish momentum ahead of the weekend, NZD/USD remains on the back foot.

In an interview with CNBC on Friday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard acknowledged that the FOMC's June meeting represented a somewhat hawkish move. Bullard further noted that inflation is more intense than expected. Supported by these comments, the DXY advanced to its highest level in more than two months and was last seen gaining 0.26% at 92.13.

There won't be any data releases featured in the US economic docket on Friday and NZD/USD is unlikely to reverse its direction and remains on track to post its lowest weekly close of 2021. 

Technical levels to watch for