Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart in light trade on Thursday, as demand for the greenback remained under pressure after disappointing U.S. home sales data on Wednesday.
AUD/USD hit 0.9301 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9299, edging up 0.10%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9230, the low of April 4 and resistance at 0.9377, Wednesday's high.
Demand for the greenback remained under pressure after data on Wednesday showed that sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to the lowest level since July 2013 in March.
The Commerce Department reported that sales on new homes dropped 14.5% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 384,000. Market expectations had been for sales rate of 450,000.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD slipping 0.24% to 1.0789.
Also Thursday, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised its benchmark interest rate to 3.00% from 2.75%, in a widely expected move.
The central bank also said that gross domestic product is estimated to have grown 3.5% in the year to March, compared to the previous month's estimate of 3.3%.
Commenting on the decision, RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said the strong kiwi is helping to contain inflation, though current levels may not be sustainable.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish data on durable goods orders and the weekly report on initial jobless claims.