Investing.com - The Australian dollar slipped lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, weighed by the release of disappointing Australian employment data, while the New Zealand dollar moved higher but remained under pressure.
AUD/USD edged down 0.12% to 0.7470, re-approaching Wednesday’s two-month lows of 0.7455.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier reported that the number of employed people increased by 9,800 in October, disappointing expectations for a 20,000 gain.
The number of employed people dropped by 29,000 in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated drop of 9,800.
The report also showed that Australia’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.6% last month, in line with expectations.
NZD/USD rose 0.23% to trade at 0.7086, still close to the previous session’s one-month trough of 0.7031.
The kiwi’s gains were expected to remain limited as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported by growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its December policy meeting.
The U.S. dollar was also underpinned by hopes that increased fiscal spending and tax cuts under Donald Trump’s administration will bolster economic growth and inflation.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 100.44, just off Wednesday’s 14-year peak of 100.60.