By Cecile Lefort
WELLINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The Australian dollar rose to four-week highs on Thursday, while the New Zealand dollar lagged after news the economy grew a little more slowly than expected in the second quarter.
Trade was subdued, however, with attention was firmly set on the outcome of the two-day Fed meeting later in the day, with markets still guessing whether the Fed will hike rates on Thursday, or opt for December or early next year.
The Australian dollar popped above $0.7200 for the first time since late August as rallying equities underpinned sentiment. It was last at $0.7199 with resistance found at $0.7230 where dealers cited stops.
Also helping was rising speculation the Fed would delay raising interest rates after a surprising 0.1 percent decline in U.S. consumer prices in August.
The Antipodean currencies have proved remarkably resilient to volatility in commodity and Chinese stock markets, with the Aussie up 1.5 percent so far this week and the kiwi 0.7 percent higher.
The Aussie fell below 69 cents earlier this month for the first time since 2010.
The New Zealand dollar NZD=D4 slipped to $0.6358, from $0.6369 early, but remained within a well defined range of $0.6244 to $0.6424 seen so far this month.
It edged lower after news the economy grew a sluggish 0.4 percent in the second quarter, versus forecasts of 0.5 percent, supporting the case for another rate cut by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ).
"The economic outlook remains precarious. We have just revised down our growth forecasts for late 2015-mid 2016 in light of our lower dairy production outlook," said Jane Turner, a senior economist at ASB Bank.
"We continue to expect the overnight cash rate to fall a further 25 basis points, but the timing is a close call between October or December."
The vast majority of analysts forecast a cut before the end of the year with an around 50-50 chance of a move in October.
The central bank cut rates to 2.75 percent last week and warned that further easing may follow if the economy remains sluggish.
Support was found at $0.6280.
New Zealand government bonds eased, sending yields as much as 4 ticks higher on the long end of the curve.
Australian government bond futures fell to one-month lows, with the three-year bond contract off 5 ticks at 98.040. The 10-year contract was down 4.5 ticks to 97.1250.