Investing.com - The Australian dollar turned lower against the firmer U.S. dollar on Wednesday as a victory for Republican’s in the U.S. mid-term elections boosted the greenback.
AUD/USD was down 0.52% to 0.8690, off Tuesday’s highs of 0.8748.
The greenback strengthened across the board after the Republican Party took control of the U.S. senate, riding a wave of voter dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama’s party at the polls. The outcome boosted hopes for an end to political deadlock in Washington.
The Aussie was also lower against the New Zealand dollar, which was boosted by a stronger than expected employment report.
Statistics New Zealand reported that the unemployment rate fell to 5.4% in the third quarter from 5.6% in the three months to June. It was the lowest rate since March 2009 and was in line with forecasts.
Employment grew 0.8 %, ahead of forecasts of 0.6%, to 2.35 million people, and was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.
AUD/NZD was down 0.20% to 1.1163 following the release of the data.
Sentiment on the Aussie was also hit after data on Wednesday showed that activity in China’s service sector slowed to its lowest in three months in October, adding to signs of a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
China’s HSBC services index came in at 52.9, down from 53.5 in September and below forecasts of 53.9.