NZD/USD stays in the negative territory near 0.7020

• NZD/USD edges lower at the start of the week.
• US Dollar Index stages a modest rebound on Monday.
• Wall Street's main indexes look to open lower.

The NZD/USD pair edged lower in the early Asian session on Monday and seems to be having a difficult time erasing its losses. As of writing, the pair was down 0.22% on the day at 0.7021.

USD capitalizes on souring market mood

At the start of the week, the data from China showed that Industrial Production rose by 6.4% on a yearly basis in July and missed the market consensus for an increase of 7.8%. Moreover, Retail Sales in China expanded by 8.5% in the same period, falling short of analysts' estimate of 11.5%. These disappointing data weighed on the kiwi and caused NZD/USD to turn south.

On the other hand, the cautious market mood on Monday is helping the greenback gather strength against its rivals. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is up 0.15% on the day at 92.65.

Meanwhile, the S&P Futures and the Dow Futures are down 0.4%, suggesting that Wall Street's main indexes will open on the back foot. In case risk-off flows continue to dominate the markets in the second half of the day, the USD could continue to outperform its rivals.

There won't be any high-tier data releases from New Zealand on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce its monetary policy decisions.

Technical levels to watch for