Investing.com - The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, with Australian markets closed for a national holiday and as Wednesday's comments by New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley still lent support to the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.7704 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7688.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7573, the low of April 7 and resistance at 0.7761, the high of March 30.
The greenback strengthened after New York Fed President William Dudley said Wednesday that the timing of a rate hike depends on economic data and added that a rate hike in June could still be possible if the labor market recovery remained strong.
Separately, Fed Governor Jerome Powell said he would be willing to start tightening policy despite current low levels of inflation, adding the Fed could act in June if economic data over the next two months showed that the recovery remained on track.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s March meeting showed that several officials believe the economic outlook is likely to warrant an interest rate hike in June.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD shedding 0.29% to 1.3995.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management is to release data on U.S. service sector activity.