Investing.com - The New Zealand and Australian dollars moved lower against their U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left interest rates unchanged and as hopes for an imminent tax reform plan in the U.S. supported demand for the greenback.
NZD/USD slipped 0.18% to 0.7186, just off a three-week low of 0.7171 hit overnight.
In a widely expected move, the RBNZ left interest rates unchanged at 1.75% at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Thursday.
Commenting on the decision, the central bank said that it doesn’t expect to raise interest rates for some time as the economic growth outlook weakens and inflation slows.
“Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly,” RBNZ Governor Grant Spencer said.
AUD/USD declined 0.34% to trade at 0.7821, the lowest since July 18.
Meanwhile, the greenback strengthened following reports on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump proposed the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in three decades.
The proposal still faces an uphill battle in the U.S. Congress, with the Republican Party divided over it and Democrats hostile.
The U.S. dollar was already supported by Wednesday's upbeat U.S. data on durable goods orders and fresh expectations for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, wasup 0.12%at 93.40 by 02:15 a.m. ET (06:15 GMT),the highest since August 23.