Investing.com - The Australian dollar drifted higher on Thursday in Asia with trade and retail sales among data sets ahead.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7467, up 0.15%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 106.94, down 0.07%.
A busy day in Australia with HIA new homes sales for March month-on-month, with the previous a fall of 5.3%.
As well, the trade balance is due for March with a deficit of A$2.9 billion seen. Data on the trend in imports and exports will also be release.
Retail sales in Australia likely rose 0.3% in March month-on-month, and at a quarter-on-quarter pace of 0.7%.
In China, the Caixin services PMI for April is due with a 52.6 level expected.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted at 93.27.
Overnight, the dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, after the release of mostly positive U.S. data boosted optimism over the strength of the economy.
The Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing purchasing manager's index improved to a four-month high of 55.7 last month from 54.5 in March. Analysts had expected the index to rise to 54.7.
At the same time, the U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders increased by 1.1%, better than forecasts for a gain of 0.6%. Factory orders fell 1.9% in February, whose figure was revised from a previously reported decline of 1.7%.
Earlier Wednesday, data showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $40.44 billion in March from $46.96 billion in February, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of $47.10 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to narrow to $41.50 billion in March.
In addition, payroll processing firm ADP said non-farm private employment rose by 156,000 last month, missing expectations for an increase of 196,000.
The economy created 194,000 jobs in March, whose figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported increase of 200,000.
EUR/USD edged down 0.13% to 1.1484.
Earlier Wednesday, research group Markit said its euro zone services PMI slipped to 53.1 in April from 53.2 the previous month, confounding expectations for an unchanged reading.