Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars slid lower against their U.S. counterpart on Monday, as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday boosted the greenback and declining oil prices weighed on the commodity currencies.
AUD/USD fell 0.29% to 0.7160, close to last week’s nearly three-month low of 0.7142.
The greenback strengthened broadly after Fed Chair Yellen said Friday it would be appropriate for the central bank to raise rates “gradually and cautiously” in the coming months if the economy and the labor market continue to pick up as expected.
The U.S. dollar was also boosted after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that gross domestic product rose at an annualized rate of 0.8% in the three months to March, up from the initial estimate of 0.5%.
In Australia, data on Monday showed that company operating profits declined by 4.7% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.1% rise and after a 2.8% fall in the three months to December.
NZD/USD slid 0.33% to trade at 0.6682, the lowest since March 28.
Meanwhile, oil prices moved lower on Monday amid expectations for an increase in Canadian oil sands production this week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.20% at 95.92, the highest since March 29.