SYDNEY/WELLINGTON: The Australian and New Zealand dollars slipped versus a broadly recovering US dollar on Wednesday, as investors tempered expectations that the Federal Reserve may implement more monetary stimulus to advance the US economic recovery.
The Australian dollar, last at $1.0452, fell to a session low of $1.0460, from around $1.0520 in late local trade on Tuesday.
In a US television interview, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said US unemployment may not fall much more this year if the economy continued to grow at a moderate pace.
He added that the central bank had not taken the option of more quantitative easing off the table, but his comments appeared to be more optimistic than earlier this week, when he said more growth was needed to bring the jobless rate down.
Those comments had knocked the US currency on expectations of further quantitative easing.
The New Zealand dollar, last at $0.8199, slipped to the day's low of $0.8202, compared with around $0.8220 in the previous day's local session.
The Aussie underperformed the kiwi, pushing the Australian currency down 0.3 percent to NZ$1.2740. A fall below NZ$1.2727 hit last month would take the pair to its weakest since October.
Investors awaited the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia's Financial Stability Review at 0030 GMT to see if the central bank offers more clues about its monetary policy outlook and the broader economy.
Strong technical support for the Aussie seen at $1.0400, its 200-day moving average. Upside resistance at around $1.0600, its 55-DMA.
Kiwi support was seen around $0.8223, its 55-DMA, after it closed above that technical level on Tuesday, but analysts expected it would struggle to rise towards key resistance at $0.8270, a level where offers have been seen all month.
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