Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to three-and-a-half week highs against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, boosted by the release of upbeat Australian data and as a recent shift in the Reserve Bank's policy stance continued to support.
AUD/USD hit 0.8980 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since January 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8962, climbing 0.58%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8874, Wednesday's low and resistance at 0.9054, the high of January 14.
Official data earlier showed that Australia's trade surplus expanded to AUD0.47 billion in December, from AUD0.08 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected the trade balance to swing into a deficit of AUD0.27 billion in December.
A separate report showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.5% in December, more than the expected 0.4% uptick, after a 0.7% increase in November.
In addition, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index rose to 8 in the fourth quarter from a reading of 5 in the third quarter, whose figure was revised up from an initial reading of 3.
The Aussie also remained supported after the Reserve Bank of Australia shifted its policy stance away from easing rates on Tuesday, citing higher than forecast inflation.
The RBA left rates on hold at 2.5%, saying "the most prudent course is likely to be a period of stability in interest rates."
The Aussie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD retreating 0.63% to 1.5091.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on the trade balance, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims.