Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars were almost unchanged against their U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid ongoing political uncertainty in the U.S. and Europe.
AUD/USD was steady at a five-month low of 0.7545.
In the minutes of its November policy meeting the Reserve Bank of Australia said the outlook for the economy remained on track and that no rate hikes are expected in the near term.
NZD/USD was little changed at 0.6803, close to Friday's 17-month trough of 0.6780.
Markets were jittery after German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to form a government coalition over the weekend, when the Free Democrats Party (FDP) unexpectedly left the negociation table.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged politicians to resume negotiations and called the impasse the worst in Germany’s post-war history.
Merkel said she would prefer a new election to leading a minority government.
Investors also remained cautious amid ongoing uncertainty over the fate of a major U.S. tax overhaul. The House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would lower corporate taxes and cut individual taxes for most households in 2018.
However the legislation could still face difficulties in the Senate amid resistance within Republican ranks. Senate lawmakers are expected to vote on their version of the bill after this week’s Thanksgiving holiday.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.09% at 93.91 by 02:15 a.m. ET (06:15 GMT).