Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as Wednesday's U.S. inflation data continued to support the nation's currency, although positive Chinese manufacturing data helped export-related currencies.
AUD/USD hit 0.8750 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8767, slipping 0.13%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8684, the low of October 16 and resistance at 0.8832, the high of October 21.
The greenback remained supported after data on Wednesday showed that the U.S. consumer price index ticked up 0.1% last month from August, while core consumer prices, which exclude energy and food costs, also rose 0.1%.
The Australian dollar found some support however, as data showed that China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index edged up to 50.4 this month from 50.2 last month, above forecasts for 50.3.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
Also Thursday, the National Bank of Australia said its business confidence index remained unchanged at 6 in the third quarter.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD advancing 0.97% to 1.1177.
The kiwi came under pressure after Statistics New Zealand reported earlier that consumer price inflation rose 0.3% in the third quarter, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.5%, after a 0.3% advance in the three months to June.
The data fuelled speculation that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand could delay any potential rate hikes.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish its weekly report on initial jobless claims.