Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, but gains were expected to remain limited by downbeat Australian building approvals data and sustained expectations for a U.S. rate hike in September.
AUD/USD hit 0.7323 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7309, adding 0.19%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7253, the low of July 28 and a six-year low and resistance at 0.7362, the high of July 24.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that building approvals dropped 8.2% in June, compared to expectations for a 0.8% downtick. Building approvals increased by 2.3% in May, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 2.4% gain.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after the Federal Reserve gave no clear indication of the timing of the next rate hike, but left itself room to act as early as September, citing continued "solid" gains in the job market.
At the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, the central bank said policy makers voted unanimously to keep U.S. interest rates unchanged and reiterated their dependency on data to determine plans for tightening monetary policy.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD declining 0.42% to 1.4994.