Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after data showed that Australian building approvals fell less-than-expected in February and the greenback's broad rally began to ease ahead of more U.S. economic reports.
AUD/USD hit 0.7664 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7634, rising 0.37%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7570, the low of March 12 and resistance at 0.7761, the high of March 30.
In a report, Statistics Australia said that building approvals fell 3.2% in February, compared to expectations for a 4.0% decline. January's figure was revised to a 5.9% increase from a previously estimated 7.9% gain.
Separately, data showed that manufacturing activity in China swung back into expansion territory last month. China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1 in March from a reading of 49.9 the previous month, confounding expectations for a slip to 49.7.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
In the U.S., investors were now looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for further indications on the path of monetary policy.
The greenback had strengthened broadly after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech last Friday that a rate hike may be warranted later this year, but added that weakening inflation pressures could force the Fed to delay.
The Aussie was steady against the euro, with EUR/AUD at 1.4120.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP nonfarm payrolls report, while the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.