Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, weighed by the release of disappointing economic growth data from Australia, while the New Zealand dollar moved up to a 16-month high.
AUD/USD slipped 0.10% to 0.7680, off the previous session’s one-and-a-half week high of 0.7691.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product rose 0.5% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for an uptick of 0.6%. Australia’s economy grew 1.0% in the first quarter, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated growth rate of 1.1%.
Year-on-year, Australia’s GDP increased by 3.3% in the three months to June, compared to expectations for a 3.4% rise.
NZD/USD rose 0.23% to trade at a 16-month high of 0.7434.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable after the Institute of Supply Management said on Tuesday that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index fell to 51.4 last month from 55.5 in July. Analysts had expected the index to drop to 55.0.
The data came after downbeat U.S. employment data published last Friday crushed expectations for an upcoming rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 94.75, the lowest since August 26.