Investing.com - The Australian dollar slipped lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, re-approaching a one-month low, while the New Zealand dollar held steady as expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike continued to support demand for the greenback.
AUD/USD fell 0.21% to 0.7544, not far from Tuesday’s one-month trough of 0.7505.
The greenback was boosted after upbeat U.S. data on Tuesday fuelled further optimism over the strength of the economy, adding to expectations for a rate hike at the Federal Reserve’s December policy meeting.
The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose 0.8% in October, compared to expectations for a 0.6% increase, while core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, increased by 0.8%.
In addition, the Federal Reserve of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index climbed to 1.50 in November from -6.80 the previous month.
The dollar also remained broadly supported amid hopes that increased fiscal spending and tax cuts under Donald Trump’s administration will bolster economic growth and inflation.
In Australia, data earlier showed that wage prices rose 0.4% in the third quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.5% gain and after an 0.5% increase in the three months to June.
NZD/USD was little changed at 0.7096, close to Monday’s one-month low of 0.7064.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.21% at 99.98, just off Tuesday’s 11-month peak of 100.28.