Investing.com - The Australian dollar was almost unchanged against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as expectations for a December rate hike in the U.S. continued to support the greenback and as investors eyed upcoming U.S. data.
AUD/USD hit 0.7127 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since November 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7141.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7063, the low of October 30 and resistance at 0.7225, Wednesday's high.
The greenback strengthened after payroll processing firm ADP reported on Wednesday that U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 182,000 last month, above expectations for an increase of 180,000.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that the trade deficit declined to more than expected in September to $40.81 billion from a revised deficit of $48.02 billion the previous month.
Also Wednesday, the Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index rose to 59.1 last month from 56.9 in September, well ahead of above forecasts of 56.5.
Investors were turning their attention to Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for indications on the likelihood of a December rate hike.
The Federal Reserve left rates on hold last week but indicated that it could still raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its December meeting.
The Aussie was fractionally higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD easing 0.09% to 1.5189.