Investing.com - The New Zealand dollar moved higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, helped by upbeat New Zealand economic growth data, while the Australian dollar was steady in pre-Christmas holiday-thinned trade.
NZD/USD rose 0.23% to 0.7325, still close to Tuesday’s six-month low of 0.6879.
Statistics New Zealand earlier reported that the country’s gross domestic product increased by 1.1% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.9% rise.
New Zealand’s economy grew 0.9% in the second quarter, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated growth rate of 0.9%.
However, year-on-year, New Zealand GDP rose 3.5% in the last quarter, compared to expectations for a growth rate of 3.7%.
AUD/USD was almost unchanged at 0.7235, not far from Tuesday’s six-month trough of 0.7250.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained broadly supported after the Federal Reserve concluded its policy meeting last week by raising interest rates by 25 basis points and projected three more rate hikes for 2017.
But trading volumes were expected to remain thin as traders were beginning to unwind positions ahead of the Christmas holiday.
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 102.91, just off Tuesday’s fresh 14-year highs of 103.62.