Investing.com - The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of U.S. economic reports, while recent upbeat U.S. housing sector data continued to support demand for the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.9129 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9168, dipping 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9036, the low of July 15 and resistance at 0.9318, Wednesday's high.
The greenback found support after official data on Wednesday showed that U.S. new home sales jumped to a five-year high in June, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to scale back its bond buying program later this year.
The Commerce Department said U.S. new home sales jumped 8.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD declining 0.70%, to hit 1.1464.
Also Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its benchmark interest rate at 2.50%, in a widely expected move.
The central bank said the pace of future interest rate increases will depend on the housing market's impact on prices and reiterated it will keep borrowing costs at a record low this year.
The comments added to speculation that the RBNZ will raise interest rates as soon as next January.
AUD/USD hit 0.9129 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9168, dipping 0.01%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9036, the low of July 15 and resistance at 0.9318, Wednesday's high.
The greenback found support after official data on Wednesday showed that U.S. new home sales jumped to a five-year high in June, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to scale back its bond buying program later this year.
The Commerce Department said U.S. new home sales jumped 8.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 497,000 units, the highest level since May 2008.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD declining 0.70%, to hit 1.1464.
Also Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held its benchmark interest rate at 2.50%, in a widely expected move.
The central bank said the pace of future interest rate increases will depend on the housing market's impact on prices and reiterated it will keep borrowing costs at a record low this year.
The comments added to speculation that the RBNZ will raise interest rates as soon as next January.