Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, despite tepid Australian retail sales and housing data as markets digested news the European Central Bank will no longer accept Greek government bonds from banks seeking funding.
AUD/USD hit 0.7792 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7787, gaining 0.45%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7623, the low of February 3 and a nearly six-year low and resistance at 0.7907, the high of January 29.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that retail sales rose 0.2% in December, disappointing expectations for an increase of 0.4%, after a 0.1% uptick the previous month.
A separate report showed that Australia's new home sales declined 1.9% in December, after a 2.2% rise in November.
On Wednesday, the ECB said it would no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for lending, shifting the burden on to Greece’s central bank to provide additional liquidity for its lenders and increasing pressure on Athens.
Greece’s government is seeking debt relief on its current €240 billion bailout, which has fuelled fears over a clash with its creditors that could bring about its eventual exit from the euro zone.
The Aussie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD slipping 0.15% to 1.4612.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce its weekly report on initial jobless claims in addition to data on the trade balance.