Investing.com - The Australian held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, hovering close to a three-week high despite downbeat Australian trade data, while the New Zealand dollar moved higher following comments by Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler.
AUD/USD was little changed at 0.7486, just off a three-week high of 0.7508 hot overnight.
Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the country’s trade deficit widened to A$1.541 billion in October from A$1.272 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$1.227 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to A$0.800 billion in October.
At the same time, data showed that China’s imports increased at an annualized rate of 6.7% last month, while exports ticked up 0.1%.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
NZD/USD gained 0.49% to trade at 0.7201, the highest since November 11.
The kiwi found some support after RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said the ‘trend’ of lower interest rates, asset price appreciation and a high New Zealand dollar 'may finally be turning', pushing investors to believe that last month’s rate cut may be the last one for some time.
Mr. Wheeler’s comments came during a speech titled "Some Thoughts on New Zealand's Economic Expansion."
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback became fragile ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.13% at 100.15.