Forex – Aussie edges higher, kiwi holds steady vs. greenback

Investing.com – The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, while the New Zealand dollar held steady as the lack of any additional U.S. monetary policy information continued to weigh on the greenback.

AUD/USD eased up 0.09% to 0.7941.

The greenback weakened broadly after a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the Jackson Hole economic symposium 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.

NZD/USD held steady at 0.7239.

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 92.40 by 02:20 a.m. ET (06:20 GMT), just off a 15-month low of 92.30 hit overnight.