Investing.com - The Australian dollar moved lower against the U.S. dollar Thursday, following overnight gains on Wall Street and signs of an improving U.S. labor market.
AUD/USD hit 0.9631 in early Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9635, falling 0.27%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9390, Tuesday’s low, and resistance at 0.9810, last Friday’s high.
Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Institute of Supply Management reported that its non-manufacturing purchasing manager’s index slipped by 0.3 points to 53 in September, down slightly from 53.3 in August, and broadly in line with market expectations.
On the ISM’s index, any number above 50 indicates expansion while a figure below 50 is a sign of contraction.
Meanwhile, payroll processing firm ADP said that the U.S. economy added 91,000 non-farm jobs in September, a slight gain from a revised 89,000 the previous month, and above market expectations of a 70,000 increase.
The ADP report also noted that employment in the service sector gained 90,000 in September, the 21st consecutive month of gains.
The encouraging labor numbers lifted Wall Street shares for a second day; The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.21%, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.32%, and the S&P 500 was lifted 1.79%.
In Sydney, Australian shares moved higher in early Thursday trade, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 gaining 2.76% 4,035.20.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar was down against both the euro and the Japanese yen, with EUR/AUD adding 0.14% to hit 1.3834 and AUD/JPY falling 0.26% to hit 73.97.
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The Australian Industry Group was due to release its construction index, an indication of investment trends in building projects, later in the day Thursday.