Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, after the release of mixed economic reports from Australia, as the greenback mildly weakened ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.
AUD/USD hit 0.7237 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7228, adding 0.17%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7167, the low of November 30 and resistance at 0.7346, Monday's high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday that home loans fell 0.5% in October, compared to expectations for a 1.0% decline, after a 2.0% rise the previous month.
Separately, the Westpac Banking Corporation said consumer sentiment in Australia fell 0.8% this month, after a 3.9% increase in November.
Meanwhile, the greenback still remained broadly supported after Friday's strong U.S. employment data fuelled further expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates for the first time since 2006 at its upcoming meeting on December 15-16.
The Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD edging up 0.15% to 1.5122.