Investing.com - The Australian dollar dropped to two-month lows against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, while the New Zealand dollar held steady at a two-week trough as fresh expectations for June rate hike by the Federal Reserve sent the greenback broadly higher.
AUD/USD slid 0.26% to 0.7210, the lowest level since March 2.
The greenback was boosted after the minutes of the Fed’s April 26-27 meeting indicated that “most” of the central bank’s members are ready to raise interest rates as early as June.
The minutes came a day after three central bank officials also mentionned the possibility of upcoming rate hikes.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said Tuesday he will push for an interest-rate hike at the Fed's upcoming policy meetings.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said he still assumes there will be two to three rate hikes before the end of this year.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams, in a joint appearance with Lockhart, echoed the remarks, saying two to three interest rate hikes this year "seems reasonable".
In Australia, data earlier showed that the number of employed people increased by 10,800 in April, confounding expectations for a 12,500 rise. The number of employed people increased by 25,700 in March, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated gain of 26,100.
Australia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.7% in April, compared to expectations for an uptick to 5.8%.
NZD/USD was little changed at 0.6738, the lowest level since May 10.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.21, the highest since March 29.