Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, despite the release of positive Australian construction work data, as Tuesday's strong U.S. reports still boosted demand for the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.9250 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9241, slipping 0.19%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9209, the low of May 21 and resistance at 0.9336, the high of May 20.
Official data showed that construction work done in Australia rose 0.3% in the first quarter, beating expectations for a 0.2% fall. Construction work done in the fourth quarter of 2013 was revised down to a 1.1% decline from a previously estimated 1% slip.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained supported after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. durable goods orders rose unexpectedly in April and another report showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved in line with forecasts this month.
The Commerce Department said orders for long lasting manufactured goods rose 0.8%, compared to expectations of a 0.7% decline.
Separately, the Conference Board reported that its consumer conference index rose to 83 in May, up from a revised 81.7 in April, I line with economists’ expectations.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD climbing 0.50% to 1.0866.
Also Wednesday, data showed that the ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand fell to 53.5 this month, from a reading of 64.8 in April.