Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars edged lower against their U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as the greenback mildly recovered from recent losses ahead of the Jackson Hole summit due to begin later in the day.
AUD/USD slipped 0.13% to 0.7893.
Market participants were looking ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the U.S. and European central banks will be making keynote speeches.
Investors are especially awaiting speeches from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Friday, though neither is expected to announce new policy messages.
NZD/USD edged down 0.14 % to trade at 0.7217, just off the previous session's six-week lows of 0.7198.
The greenback had weakened after the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Wednesday that new home sales unexpectedly tumbled in July.
Sentiment on the dollar was already vulnerable after U.S. President Donald Trump said at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday that he would be willing to shut down the government in order to get the funding needed for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump also warned that he might terminate the NAFTA trade treaty with Canada and Mexico after a first round talks aimed at revamping the trade pact ended with few signs of progress.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.08 % at 93.21 by 02:15 a.m. ET (06:15 a.m. GMT).