Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of mixed economic reports from Australia although demand for the greenback remained broadly supported.
AUD/USD hit 0.8338 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8321, gaining 0.33%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8221, Tuesday's low and a four-and-a-half year low and resistance at 0.8395, the high of December 5.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that home loans rose 0.3% in October, beating expectations for a 0.2% gain. Home loans dropped 0.4% in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated decline of 0.7%.
Separately, the Westpac Banking Corporation reported that Australia's consumer sentiment declined 5.7% this month, after a 1.9% rise in November.
The greenback remained 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.
Elsewhere, the Greek government surprised markets on Tuesday after deciding to bring forward a parliamentary vote for president to next week, a move which could trigger early elections if Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ candidate is not chosen.
The Aussie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD slipping 0.16% to 1.4889.