Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, pulling away from a five-year trough but gains were expected to remain limited as the Federal Reserve said it expected to start raising interest rates next year.
AUD/USD hit 0.8163 during early European trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8161, climbing 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8104, Wednesday's low and a five-year low and resistance at 0.8275, the high of December 16.
The U.S. dollar was boosted after the Fed said it would be "patient" before raising rates, guidance which it said is consistent with earlier assurances statement that rates would stay low "for a considerable time."
The central bank acknowledged the improvement in the U.S. labor market and noted that the economy is making progress toward its goals in inflation and employment.
At the bank’s post policy meeting press conference Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed was unlikely to raise rates for the "next couple of meetings" indicating that a move in April at the earliest is possible.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD edging up 0.14% to 1.0556.
Also Thursday, Statistics New Zealand reported that the country's gross domestic product increased by 1.0% in the third quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.7% rise and up from a growth rate of 0.7% in the three months to June.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on initial jobless claims and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.