Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, supported by an improvement in Australian business confidence, while markets eyed the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting minutes due on Wednesday.
AUD/USD hit 0.9396 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since July 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9389, rising 0.18%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9330, the low of July 3 and resistance at 0.9441, the high of July 3.
In a report, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index ticked up to 8 in June, from a reading of 7 the previous month.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after a strong U.S. jobs report last Thursday sparked speculation that the Fed could bring forward its timetable for raising interest rates.
The U.S. economy added a larger-than-forecast 288,000 jobs last month, while the unemployment rate ticked down to 6.1%, the lowest in almost six years.
But investors remained cautious amid expectations that the Fed will stick to its dovish stance on monetary policy amid concerns over ongoing slow growth in inflation and wages.
The Aussie was steady against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD inching up 0.01% to 1.0700.
Also Tuesday, data earlier showed that the NZIER business confidence index for New Zealand fell to 32 in the second quarter, from a reading of 52 in the three months to April.