Investing.com - The Australian dollar pushed higher against the weaker U.S. dollar on Thursday, one day after data showed that the U.S. economy barely expanded in the first three months of the year.
AUD/USD was trading at 0.9301, up from 0.9286 on Wednesday.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9251, Wednesday’s low and resistance at 0.9315, the high of April 28.
The dollar weakened against most other major currencies on Wednesday after the Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 0.1% in the first quarter, well below forecasts for an expansion of 1.2%.
Despite the sharp slowdown in growth the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would reduce its bond purchases to $45 billion a month, in a widely expected decision. The Fed also said interest rates would remain on hold at record lows for a "considerable time" after the bond-buying program ends later this year.
The U.S. central bank acknowledged that first quarter growth was far weaker than expected, but added that growth had started to pick up in recent weeks.
"Growth in economic activity has picked up recently, after having slowed sharply during the winter in part because of adverse weather conditions," the bank said.
Investors were beginning to turn their attention to the April nonfarm payrolls report due for release on Friday, which was expected to show that the recovery in the labor market was continuing.
The Aussie shrugged off data on Thursday showing that China’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index ticked up to 50.4 last month from 50.3 in March, but exports orders declined sharply. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
Elsewhere, the Aussie inched higher against the yen, with AUD/JPY edging up 0.08% to 95.02 and was almost unchanged against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD trading at 1.0774.
Trade volumes were expected to remain thin on Thursday, with many markets in Europe closed for the Labor Day holiday.