Investing.com - The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of lower than expected retail sales data from Australia, as investors eyed comments by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.9334 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9346, easing 0.02%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9253, the low of May 5 and resistance at 0.9418, the high of April 15.
Official data showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.1% in March, below expectations for a 0.4% increase. Retail sales in February were revised up to a 0.3% gain from a previously estimated 0.2% rise.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD advancing 0.55% to 1.0753.
The kiwi came under pressure after Reserve Bank of New Zealand Chairman Graeme Wheeler warned against the currency's current strength, saying that "it would become more opportune for the Reserve Bank to intervene in the currency market to sell New Zealand dollars", in the face of worsening fundamentals.
In addition, official data showed that the number of employed people in New Zealand rose by 0.9% in the first quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% increase, after a 1.1% gain in the three months to December.
The report also showed that New Zealand's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.0% in the last quarter, disappointing expectations for a downtick to 5.9%.
Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was to testify before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, in Washington.