Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, even after data showed that Australian retail sales rose less than expected in March, as demand for the greenback remained broadly under pressure.
AUD/USD hit 0.7975 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since April 30; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7977, gaining 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7860, the low of April 30 and resistance at 0.8029, the high of April 30.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier reported that retail sales rose 0.3% in March, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% gain, after a 0.7% increase the previous month.
Quarter-on-quarter, retail sales rose by 0.7% in the first three months of 2015, confounding expectations for a 0.9% increase, after a revised 1.2% gain the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after mixed U.S. economic reports on Tuesday did little to support optimism over the strength of the nation's recovery.
The Institute of Supply Management reported that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index rose to a five-month high of 57.8 last month, above forecasts for a reading of 56.2.
At the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the trade deficit widened to $51.37 billion in March, the highest level since 1996 in March.
The kiwi was sharply lower against the Australian dollar, with AUD/NZD jumping 1.22% to 1.0637.
Also Wednesday, Statistics New Zealand said that the number of employed people rose by 0.7% in the first quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.8% gain, after an increase of 1.2% in the last three months of 2014.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.8% in the three months to March from 5.7% in the previous quarter, compared to expectations for a decline to 5.5%.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release its monthly ADP nonfarm payrolls report.