Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, while the New Zealand dollar moved lower after the release of disappointing data from both New Zealand and Australia.
AUD/USD was steady at 0.7127.
Earlier Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said tha company operating profits declined by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations for a 1.8% fall.
Company operating profits increased by 1.4% in the third quarter, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.3% gain.
NZD/USD dropped 0.65% to trade at 0.6589.
Data also showed that the ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand slid down to 7.1 in January from a reading of 23.0 the previous month.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after data on Friday showed that while the U.S. economy slowed in the fourth quarter, the pace of the slowdown was not as steep as initially estimated.
The Commerce Department said gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.0% in the three months to December, up from an initial estimate of 0.7% growth. Economists had expected fourth quarter GDP growth to be revised down to 0.4%.
Separate reports showing consumer spending and inflation rose in January added to the view that the U.S. recovery is on track.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.21% at 97.92, pulling away from Friday’s three-week high.