Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, despite the release of downbeat Australian construction data as demand for the greenback paused ahead of a flurry of U.S. economic reports due later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.8565 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8554, rising 0.25%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8514, Tuesday's low and a four-year low and resistance at 0.8643, the high of November 20.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said construction work done declined by 2.2% in the third quarter, more than the expected 1.7% fall, after a 1.2% drop in the three months to June.
The greenback slightly weakened on Tuesday after the Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index fell to a five month low in November, one month after touching its highest level in seven years, as optimism over the short term outlook waned.
Another report showed that U.S. house prices rose more than expected on a year-over-year basis September, but were unchanged on a monthly basis.
The U.S. dollar still found some support however as the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy posted growth of 3.9% in the three months to September, far higher than the initial estimate of 3.5%. Economists had forecast a small downward revision to 3.3%.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD sliding 0.30% to 1.4576.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a flurry of data ahead of Thursday’s holiday, including reports on durable goods orders, unemployment claims, personal income and spending, as well as reports on new and pending home sales and revised data on consumer sentiment.