Kiwi climbs off 2-1/5 year nadir against US dollar

New Zealand dollar tilted higher in Asian trade off February 2016 lows, following earlier industrial data from New Zealand and ahead of US import, consumer sentiment data. 

As of 02:51 GMT, NZD/USD rose 0.20% to 0.6581, with an intraday high at 0.6584, and a low at 0.6563. 

An index tracking the manufacturing sector in New Zealand rose to 52.0 from 51.2 in July, as investors look forward to second-quarter GDP data later next week. 

Now markets await US retail sales data, expected with a 0.4% increase in August, down from 0.5%. 

Import prices are estimated with a 0.2% monthly dip, and a 4.1% yearly increase, as industrial production is expected with a 0.3% increase in August, up from 0.1% in July. 

The University of Michigan's survey on consumer sentiment is estimated at 96.7 in September, up from 96.2 in August.