Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, despite disappointing business confidence data from Australia as hopes for progress on the Greek front boosted investor confidence.
AUD/USD hit 0.7846 during early European trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7821, gaining 0.37%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7626, Tuesday's low and a nearly six-year low and resistance at 0.7907, the high of January 29.
Earlier Wednesday, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index fell to 2 in the fourth quarter of 2014 from a reading of 6 in the previous quarter.
The Australian dollar had come under broad selling pressure on Tuesday after the Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly lowered its benchmark interest rate to a new record-low 2.25% from 2.50%.
Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the Australian dollar remains overvalued.
But market sentiment also strengthened after the Greek government outlined on Tuesday its plans to renegotiate the terms of its €140 billion bailout, retreating from election pledges to demand a debt write-down.
The move eased concerns over a conflict with the country’s creditors which could lead to its exit from the euro zone.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD dropping 0.51% to 1.0533.
Also Wednesday, Statistics New Zealand said that the number of employed people rose by 1.2% in the last quarter, beating expectations for a 0.8% gain. The employment change for the third quarter was revised to a 0.9% increase from a previously estimated 0.8% rise.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014 from 5.4% in the three months to September. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to tick down to 5.3% in the last quarter.
Separately, Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler said that interest rates will remain on hold for a prolonged period of time.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on ADP nonfarm payrolls. In addition, the Institute of Supply Management was to produce data on non-manufacturing activity.