Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars moved lower against their U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, despite upbeat Australian data and dovish comments by a Federal Reserve official, as lower oil prices continued to weigh on the commodity currencies.
AUD/USD dropped 0.52% to 0.7526.
Earlier Tuesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index rose to 6 in August from 4 the previous month.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after Fed Governor Lael Brainard warned against raising interest rates too quickly.
In a speech on Monday, Brainard says economic progress continues in the U.S., but the Fed would be wise to continue keeping policy loose.
The comments came after Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said on Friday that low interest rates are increasing the chance of overheating the U.S. economy.
NZD/USD slid 0.31% to trade at 0.7330.
But sentiment on the commodity currencies was fragile as oil prices moved lower after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday that crude output from rival producers is stronger than expected and will result in a bigger supply glut than previously believed this year and next.
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 95.20.