Investing.com - The Australian dollar pushed higher against the U.S. dollar on Thursday after falling to four year lows overnight as Republican gains in the U.S. mid-term elections and an upbeat jobs report boosted the greenback.
AUD/USD was up 0.27% to 0.8619, after falling to lows of 0.8554 overnight, the lowest since July 2010.
The dollar rallied on Wednesday after the Republican Party took control of the U.S. Senate, which was seen as pro-business, and following a report showing strong private sector jobs growth.
The ADP nonfarm payrolls report showed that the U.S. private sector added 230,000 jobs in October, ahead of expectations for jobs growth of 220,000.
Separately, the Institute of Supply Management said that its non-manufacturing index slowed to 57.1 last month from 58.6 in September.
However, the employment component of the index rose, boosting the outlook for the labor market ahead of Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
The Aussie came under heavy selling pressure despite encouraging domestic jobs data.
Official data showed that the number of people employed rose by 24,100 in October, compared with economists’ forecast of a 10,300 gain.
The unemployment rate held steady at 6.2%.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was almost unchanged against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD at 1.1116.