Investing.com - The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of positive Australian employment data, as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported.
AUD/USD hit 0.8375 during early European trade, the pair's highest since December 5; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8318, easing up 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8261, Wednesday's low and resistance at 0.8431, the high of December 4.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of employed people increased by 42,700 last month, beating expectations for a 12,400 rise. The number of employed people rose by 13,700 in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 24,100 gain,
The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate ticked up to 6.3% in November from 6.2% the previous month, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, the Melbourne Institute said that inflation expectations for Australia slipped to 3.4% last month from 4.1% in October.
But the greenback remained broadly supported after last week’s strong U.S. jobs report for November prompted investors to bring forward expectations for the first hike in interest rates to mid-2015 from September 2015 ahead of the data.
Investors were looking ahead to next week’s policy statement from the Fed amid speculation that policymakers could drop an assurance that interest rates will stay low for a "considerable time".
The Aussie was steady against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD inching up 0.03% to 1.0640.
Also Thursday, the RBNZ held its benchmark interest rate at 3.50%, in a widely expected move, but added that "some further increase in the official cash rate is expected to be required at a later stage."
Commenting on the decision, RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said that "gradual increases in interest rates will still be needed as the economy expands at around 3% a year and the country's jobless rate falls."
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on retail sales, as well as the weekly report on jobless claims.