Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose against their U.S. counterpart on Monday, despite political uncertainty and downbeat data in Australia as easing concerns over Britain’s decision to leave the European Union continued to support risk sentiment.
Trading volumes were expected to remain thin with U.S. markets closed for Independence Day.
AUD/USD edged up 0.15% to 0.7504, the highest since June 24.
The Aussie remained supported even after Australia's general election on Saturday produced no clear winner after more than two-thirds of the votes were counted.
Markets also seemed to shrug off a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Monday showing that building approvals dropped by 5.2% in May, compared to expectations for a 3.3% slip.
Building approvals rose 3.3% in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 3.0% gain.
NZD/USD gained 0.29% to trade at 0.7189.
Meanwhile, sentiment remained supported as Brexit fears continued to fade and news of a potential U.K. rate cut this summer also boosted investors’ confidence.
The commodity currencies also benefited from higher oil prices on Monday, as stronger risk sentiment and news of a larger than expected drop in U.S. inventories last week continued to push the commodity closer to the $50 a barrel threshold.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 95.73.