Kiwi drops after Fed statement; Aussie higher despite downbeat Australian data

The New Zealand and Australian dollars dropped against their U.S. peer on Thursday, as demand for the latter strengthened after the Federal Reserve left the door open for a rate hike as soon as September.

The dollar was supported after the FOMC statement.

The Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday left its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero, but provided several cues that it is close to seeing enough improvement in the job market to prompt officials to increase the rate as early as September.

For months, policy makers have been saying they desired to see “additional improvement in the labor market” before deciding it is time to raise rates. In Wednesday’s statement they said they wanted to see “some” additional improvement, suggesting they see themselves nearing their threshold on the jobs front for action.

NZD/USD hit 0.6621 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since Tuesday; the pair was last at 0.6624, sliding 0.62%.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar jumped during late Asian trade with AUD/NZD advancing 0.70% to 1.1018.

AUD/USD hit 0.7323 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7288, lower 0.11%.

The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD declining to 1.5007.

Earlier Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that building approvals dropped 8.2% in June, compared to expectations for a 0.8% downtick. Building approvals expanded by 2.3% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously calculated 2.4% gain.