Forexpros – The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, but the Aussie remained under pressure as sustained concerns over the euro zone continued to weigh on demand for risk-related assets.
AUD/USD hit 1.0315 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0302, rising 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0231, the low of January 13 and resistance at 1.0377, the high of January 12.
Investor confidence weakened on Wednesday as the cost of insuring Spain’s debt against default climbed after a disappointing government bond auction added to concerns that Spain may be the next euro zone member to require a bailout.
Risk sentiment was also hit after data confirmed that the euro zone service sector contracted for the sixth time in seven months in March, while retail sales fell by 0.1% in February, against expectations for a 0.1% increase.
Meanwhile, the dollar remained supported by diminished expectations for another round of easing from the Federal Reserve, and after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. private sector added more jobs than expected in March.
Payroll processing firm ADP reported that the U.S. private sector added 209,000 jobs last month, outstripping expectations for an increase of 200,000.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.28%, to hit 1.2762.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on unemployment claims.
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