Investing.com - The Australian dollar slipped against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, to trade near five-and-a-half year lows as demand for the greenback remained broadly supported by expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike.
AUD/USD hit 0.8054 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8070, edging down 0.17%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8034, Monday's low and a five-and-a-half year low and resistance at 0.8186, the high of January 2.
Demand for the greenback continued to be underpinned by the diverging policy outlook between the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Japan.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates in the coming year as the steady economic recovery in the U.S. continues.
Meanwhile, investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro zone if far-left anti-austerity party Syriza won elections due to be held later this month.
The Aussie was also lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD edging up 0.12% to 1.4729.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on ADP nonfarm payrolls, in addition to data on the trade balance. In addition, the Fed was to publish the minutes of its most recent meeting.