Investing.com - The Australian dollar slid lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of downbeat building approvals from Australia, while the New Zealand dollar moved higher after local inflation expectations came out in line with expectations.
AUD/USD declined 0.31% to 0.7628.
Earlier Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that building approvals dropped 8.7% in September, compared to expectations for a 3.0% slide and after a 1.8% fall the previous month.
The data came a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.50%, sending the Aussie broadly higher.
NZD/USD advanced 0.70% to trade at 0.7233, the highest since October 20.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand reported on Wednesday that its inflation expectations for the next two years remained unchanged at 1.7% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported amid growing expectations for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
However, investors remained cautious after the FBI said last Friday that it would review more emails related to Hillary Clinton's private email use while she was secretary of state.
The news sparked fresh uncertainty over Mrs. Clinton’s election prospects ahead of the November 8 vote, amid fears over the implications of a victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.10% at 97.66, the lowest since October 18.