Investing.com - The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, while the New Zealand dollar edged higher after the release of mixed manufacturing activity in China, while Friday’s disappointing growth data still lent weighed on the greenback.
AUD/USD held steady at 0.7615, the highest since July 15.
Data earlier showed that China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 49.9 in July from 50.0 the previous month, compared to expectations for an unchanged reading.
However, the Caixin manufacturing PMI rose to 50.6 last month from 48.6 in June, compared to expectations for an uptick to 48.7.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner and New Zealand’s second biggest export partner.
NZD/USD edged up 0.11% to 0.7215, close to Friday’s two-week high of 0.7233.
The Commerce Department said on Friday that the advance read on second quarter U.S. gross domestic product showed a 1.2% annualized growth rate, well below expectations for 2.6%. First quarter GDP was revised lower to 0.8% from 1.1%.
The disappointing data lessened expectations for an early interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve.
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 95.61, still close to Friday’s five-week lows of 95.33.