Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved lower on Monday, as the vote of a major U.S. tax bill lent broad support to the greenback, although fresh political turmoil in Washington was expected to limit gains.
AUD/USD was down 0.38% at 0.7582.
The greenback strengthened after the U.S. Senate approved a tax overhaul late Friday, marking President Donald Trump first major political victory.
The Trump administration has said its tax cuts will generate growth and spark inflation, which investors hope will prompt a faster pace of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve.
However, fresh political turmoil in the U.S. was expected to weigh after former national security adviser Michael Flynn said he is prepared to cooperate in the special counsel probe into alleged links between the Trump campaign and Russia during last year’s election.
Flynn pleaded guilty Friday morning to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. in December 2016.
In Australia, data earlier showed that company operating profits fell 0.2% in the third quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% rise.
NZD/USD declined 0.70% to trade at 0.6842.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.52% at 93.30 by 02:30 a.m. ET (06:30 GMT).