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 demand for the greenback continued to be broadly supported.
AUD/USD slid 0.36% to 0.7799, its lowest since July 18.
In a widely expected move, the RBA held its benchmark interest rate at 1.50% at the conclusion of its monthly policy meeting.
Commenting on the decision, the central bank said economic growth was expected to pick up gradually in the coming years, but it warned against slow wage growth and high household debt.
Also Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that building approvals rose 0.4% in August, compared to expectations for an increase of 1.1%.
Building approvals dropped 1.2% in July, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.7% decline.
NZD/USD retreated 3.8% to trade at 0.7164, its lowest since September 4.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after upbeat U.S. manufacturing data seemed to boost chances for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The Institute of Supply Management reported on Monday that its index of manufacturing activity climbed to a 13-month high of 60.8 in September from 58.8 the previous month.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.19% at 93.66 by 02:20 a.m. ET (06:20 GMT), its highest since August 17.