Forex – Aussie, Kiwi Move Lower; RBA Holds Rates

Investing.com – The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved lower against their U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged and as growing expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike continued to support demand for the greenback.

AUD/USD was down 0.27% at 0.7671.

In a widely expected move, the RBA left interest rates unchanged at 1.50% at the conclusion of its monthly policy meeting.

Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Philip Lowe said “the Bank’s forecasts for growth in the Australian economy are largely unchanged.”

NZD/USD declined 0.32% to trade at 0.6924.

Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after mostly positive U.S. data released late last week added to expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve.

However, uncertainty over whether U.S. Republicans will be able to pass a highly-anticipated tax reform plan have been limiting the U.S. dollar’s gains.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.18% at 94.80 by 02:10 a.m. ET (06:10 GMT).