Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged slightly higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of tepid new motor vehicle sales data from Australia, while markets eyed a string of U.S. economic reports to be published later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.9384 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9392, edging up 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9271, the low of May 6 and resistance at 0.9426, the high of April 14.
Official data showed that new motor vehicle sales in Australia were flat last month, after a 0.3% fall in March.
The data came a day after Australia's Treasury said, in its annual budget report, that the government aims to nearly halve its budget deficit over the next year through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD slipping 0.13% to 1.0805.
Also Thursday, data showed that the Business New Zealand Manufacturing Index fell to 55.2 in April, from 58.0 in March, whose figure was revised down from a previously estimated reading of 58.4.
Meanwhile, in its annual budget release, New Zealand's Treasury said the operating surplus will be NZ$372 million in the year through June 2015, up from a previously forecast NZ$86 million.
The Treasury also forecast the nation's jobless rate will decline to 4.4% in 2018 from a projected 5.4% next fiscal year.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on initial jobless claims, consumer inflation and industrial production, as well as a report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.