Investing.com – The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved lower against their U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as market sentiment weakened following a new missile test by North Korea, although sentiment on the greenback also remained under pressure since the Jackson Hole summit.
AUD/USD dropped 0.55% to 0.7924, off the previous session’s three-week high of 0.7973.
Sentiment was hit after North Korea fired a missile that flew over northern Japan, in the latest act of provocation by Pyongyang.
Following the missile test, the U.S., Japan and South Korea asked for a United Nations Security Council meeting. According to diplomats, a meeting of the 15-member Security Council is scheduled to be held later Tuesday.
NZD/USD slid 0.41% to trade at 0.7227.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday made no reference to monetary policy, disappointing some investors who had hoped she would adopt a hawkish tone.
The dollar has been under strong selling pressure this year amid ongoing uncertainty over the economic agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump and doubts that the Fed will deliver a third rate hike this year.
Investors were also cautious after Tropical Storm Harvey hit Houston, Texas, and many oil refineries in the U.S. Gulf Coast, sparking worries about the storm’s impact on the U.S. economy.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.08% at a fresh 15-month low of 92.10 by 02:10 a.m. ET (06:10 GMT).