Investing.com -
Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged higher against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, despite the release of disappointing retail sales data from Australia, while the New Zealand dollar held steady as the greenback remained mildly supported by strong U.S. employment data.
AUD/USD added 0.16% to 0.7601.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier said that retail sales ticked up 0.1% in June, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise, after a 0.2% gain.
On a quarterly basis, retail sales increased by 0.4% in the three months to June, below expectations for a 0.5% rise.
NZD/USD was little changed at 0.7158.
The greenback regained some ground after payroll processor ADP said on Wednesday that the U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs last month, surpassing expectations for an increase of 170,000.
The economy created 176,000 jobs in June, whose figure was revised from a previously reported increase of 172,000, the report said.
While not viewed as a reliable guide for the government jobs report due on Friday, August 5, it does give guidance on private-sector hiring.
The dollar has come under pressure amid diminished expectations for another rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year after last week's surprisingly weak data on U.S. second quarter growth.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was up 0.10% at 95.59, pulling further away from Tuesday's six-week lows of 94.94.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
