Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to nearly one-and-a-half month highs against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, even after the release of downbeat Australian trade balance data, as traders locked in profits from the greenback's recent rally.
AUD/USD hit 0.7326 during late Asian trade, the session highe; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7325, rising 0.21%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7337, the low of December 1 and resistance at 0.7365, the high of October 15.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday that the country's trade deficit widened to A$3.305 billion in October from A$2.403 billion in September, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$2.317 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$2.665 billion in October.
The report came a day after data showed that Australia's gross domestic product rose 0.9% in the third quarter, beating expectations for a 0.8% increase. Year-on-year, Australia's economy expanded by 2.5% in the last quarter, above expectations for a growth rate of 2.4%.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported by mounting expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its December policy meeting.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Wedesday that the central bank was still on track to hike rates this month, citing "continued improvement in the labor market" and "confidence that inflation will move back to our 2% objective over the medium term."
The comments came after payroll processing firm ADP said U.S. non-farm private employment rose by 217,000 last month, above expectations for an increase of 190,000.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD declining 0.45% to 1.4456.