Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, but gains were expected to remain limited as Tuesday's upbeat U.S. economic reports continued to support demand for the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.9343 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9315, edging up 0.12%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9258, the low of June 5 and resistance at 0.9388, the high of July 30.
The Australian dollar had come under pressure on Tuesday, after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low 2.50% and reiterated that it expects borrowing costs to remain low for an extended period of time.
The greenback found support after data on Tuesday showed that the U.S. service sector expanded at the fastest pace in more than three years in July.
The Institute for Supply Management's services purchasing manager's index rose to 58.7 up from 56.0 in June, beating forecasts and well above the 50 level that signals expansion.
The dollar also strengthened after another report showed that U.S. factory orders rose 1.1% in June, above economists' forecasts of a 0.5% gain.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD gaining 0.46% to 1.1037.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that the number of employed people in New Zealand rose 0.4% in the second quarter, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.7%, after a 0.9% rise in the three months to April.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.6% in the last quarter, from 6.0% in the first quarter, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.8%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on the trade balance.