Investing.com - The New Zealand and Australian dollars were little changed against their U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, despite upbeat New Zealand inflation data as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported.
NZD/USD held steady at 0.7168 after Statistics New Zealand said consumer prices increased 0.5% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.4% gain.
Year-over-year, consumer prices rose 1.9% in the three months to September, compared to expectations for a 1.8% gain.
Meanwhile, the greenback was supported by reports on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump was favoring Stanford economist John Taylor to replace Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen next year. Taylor is seen as more hawkish than current Yellen.
The U.S. dollar was also boosted after Fed Chair Yellen said Sunday that the economy remains strong and the strength of the labor market calls for continued gradual increases in interest rates despite soft inflation.
AUD/USD was also steady at 0.7847.
Earlier Tuesday, the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's October policy meeting showed that policymakers are in no hurry to raise interest rates.
“Members observed that moves towards higher interest rates in other economies were a welcome development, but did not have mechanical implications for the setting of policy in Australia,” the report said.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.16% at 93.29 by 02:15 a.m. ET (06:15 GMT).