By Swati Pandey and Ana Nicolaci da Costa
SYDNEY/WELLINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar slipped for the fourth straight session on Tuesday to a near 1-1/2 week low on continued weakness in the price of iron ore - the country's top export earner.
The Australian dollar AUD=D4 edged 0.17 percent lower to $0.7424, a level not seen since May 19.
Chinese iron ore futures have been on a steady decline with the most-active iron ore contract on the Dalian Commodity Exchange DCIOcv1 diving 28 percent since mid-March.
"The Aussie is under the gun more so from a general view that downside risk to the commodity space abounds," said Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA.
"With this dispirited near-term view for iron ore prices... the Aussie appears poised for a significant move lower," he added.
Separately, official data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday showed a cooling off in the country's biggest-ever home-building boom as approvals for new projects sank 17.2 percent annually in April. data showed a better-than-expected monthly gain of 4.4 percent in April, but follows a hefty loss of 10.3 in March.
"Its a small monthly gain in a downward trend," said Michael Turner, a strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "We are a bit more circumspect about overall growth - the consumer is still a bit more conservative and construction is slowing down."
Across the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 stood at $0.7048 on Tuesday, coming off an over two-month high of $0.7089 hit on Monday.
"(It's) obviously had a decent run so perhaps it's just a case of a little bit of profit-taking, a little bit of a stronger U.S. dollar theme coming through in a market where it's been generally quiet for news flow," Phil Borkin, senior economist at ANZ.
Investors braced for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's half-yearly report on financial stability on Wednesday. It is likely to flag ongoing risks in the housing sector, and provide an improved outlook for dairy sector - the country's biggest goods export.
"It would take some surprise on the macroprudential front to really shake currency markets up," Borkin said.
New Zealand government bonds 0#NZTSY= firmed, sending yields down 1 basis point .
Australian government bond futures climbed, with the three-year bond contract YTTc1 up 2 ticks at 98.31. The 10-year contract YTCc1 rose 2.5 ticks to 97.580. (Editing by Kim Coghill)