Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, supported by upbeat Chinese manufacturing data, although expectations for an early U.S. rate hike continued to boost demand for the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.8923 during late Asian trade; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8909, gaining 0.41%.
Data earlier showed that the HSBC/Markit Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.5 this month, from a reading of 50.2 in August, confounding expectations for a fall to 50.0.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported as signs that the economic recovery is making solid progress fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates sooner than markets are expecting.
Last week, the Fed offered fresh guidance on its plans to raise interest rates, outlining in more detail how it will start to raise short term interest rates when the time comes.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD retreating 0.41% to 1.4421.