Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady near two-and-a-half week lows against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen scheduled later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.6992 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6997.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6942, the low of September 10 and resistance at 0.7095, Wednesday's high.
The greenback strengthened broadly after comments by some Fed officials Monday night indicated that a U.S. rate hike is still on the cards this year.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart indicated in separate remarks that the U.S. central bank is still likely to raise short-term interest rates this year.
Investors were now looking ahead to a speech by Fed Chair Janet Yellen later Thursday for additional clarity on the bank’s decision last week to leave interest rates on hold.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD shedding 0.32% to 1.1119.
Earlier Thursday, Statistics New Zealand reported that the country's trade deficit widened to NZ$1,035 million in August from NZ$649 million the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to NZ$850 million last month.