Investing.com - The Australian and New Zealand dollars edged higher against their U.S. counterpart on Thursday, despite the release of downbeat Australian data, as investors remained cautious before Friday’s key employment report.
AUD/USD edged up 0.19% to 0.7533, off the previous session’s one-month low of 0.7487.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail sales were flat in the second quarter, compared to expectations for a 0.3% rise and after an uptick of 0.1% in the three months to March.
A separate report showed that private capital expenditure declined by 5.4% in the last quarter, exceeding expectations for a 4.2% drop and following a 5.2% slide in the first quarter.
However, the Australian dollar found some support after data showed that Chinese manufacturing activity swung into expansion territory this month, with the official mannufacturing purchasing managers’ index at 50.4, up from 49.9 in July.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner.
China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI ticked down to 50.0 in August from 50.6 in July.
NZD/USD added 0.08% to trade at 0.7254.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after upbeat jobs data on Wednesday added to expectations for an upcoming U.S. rate hike.
U.S. payroll processing firm ADP said nonfarm private employment rose by 177,000 last month, surpassing expectations for an increase of 175,000.
The data came a day after Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the U.S. labor market is almost at full strength and the pace of interest rate increases will be data dependent.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 96.06, just off Wednesday’s three-week high of 96.25.