Investing.com – The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved lower against their U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as the greenback remained supported following recent upbeat U.S. jobs data, while investors eyed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s upcoming policy decision.
AUD/USD was down 0.39% at 0.7881, after hitting a three-week low of 0.7856 overnight.
The greenback continued to trade near one-week highs against the other major currencies after data on Tuesday reinforced optimism over the strength of the U.S. job market.
The U.S. Labor Department said on Tuesday that the number of job openings, excluding the farming industry, settled at a record-high 6.163 million in June from 5.702 million a month earlier.
The report came after data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 209,000 jobslast month, blowing past expectations for an increase of 183,000.
The strong numbers fueled expectations the Federal Reserve will stick to its plans for a third interest rate hike this year.
Investors were now eyeing U.S. inflation reports later in the week for indications of whether the recovery in the dollar is sustainable in the longer term.
Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said on Wednesday that the Aussie’s recent appreciation mainly reflects the decline of the U.S. dollar in response to an unwinding of the so-called “Trump Trade”.
Last week, RBA Governor Philip Lowe warned that the rising Australian dollar had become a threat to growth, inflation and employment.
A few days later, the central bank cut Australia’s growth forecasts to 2.5% from 3.0% for 2017.
NZD/USD edged down 0.16% to trade at 0.7318, the lowest since July 18.
Later Wednesday, the RBNZ is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 1.75%. Investors will especially be paying attention to the central bank’s rhetoric following the decision for any hints on future policy moves.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.54, just off Tuesday’s fresh one-week high of 93.77.