The Australian and New Zealand dollars rose against their U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the Federal Reserve’s decision to leave its monetary policy unchanged dampened demand for the greenback.

AUD/USD gained 0.43% to 0.7524.

In a widely expected move, the Fed left interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

In its monthly policy statement, the Fed said that “near-term risks to the economic outlook have diminished” and that the labor market has “strengthened”.

The upbeat outlook fuelled speculation over a near-term rate hike by the U.S. central bank, possibly as soon as September.

NZD/USD advanced 0.47% to trade at 0.7109, the highest since July 19.

The commodity currencies were also supported by a rebound in oil prices on Thursday, although global glut concerns continued to weigh.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.27% to 96.49, the lowest since July 15.