Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, supported by the release of upbeat Australian economic growth data and as concerns over tensions between Russia and Ukraine continued to ease.
AUD/USD hit 0.8997 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since February 26; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8969, rising 0.20%.
The pair was likely to find shrt-term support at 0.8891, the low of March 3 and resistance at 0.9081, the high of February 18.
The Aussie found support after official data showed that Australia's gross domestic product rose 0.8% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 0.7% increase, after a 0.6% expansion in the three months to September.
Market sentiment improved on Tuesday, as the threat of war between Russia and Ukraine eased after Russian President Vladimir Putin said a military deployment in Ukraine is not needed now. Russia’s defense minister also ordered troops engaged in military exercises close to Ukraine’s borders to return to their bases.
But investors remained cautious with Russian forces still maintaining a military presence in Ukraine’s Crimea region.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD shedding 0.31% to 1.5306.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP report on private sector job creation, while the Institute for Supply Management was to publish a report service sector activity.