The Australian dollar rose against the greenback on Thursday,
supported by the release of upbeat Australian building approvals data,
while investors eyed upcoming U.S. employment data.
The New Zealand dollar jumped over 1% against the U.S. dollar, as Thursday's disappointing U.S. manufacturing data weighed on the greenback and investors eyed upcoming data on U.S. employment.
AUD/USD hit 0.8816 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since September 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8785, gaining 0.60%.
Official data earlier showed that Australian building approvals increased by 3.0% in August, exceeding expectations for a 1.0% rise. Building approvals for July were revised to a 2.1% gain from a previously estimated 2.5% increase.
NZD/USD hit 0.7928 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since September 26; the pair subsequently settled at 0.7864, up 1.03%.
The green currency descended from one-year highs recently hit against the kiwi after the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday said its index of purchasing managers fell to 56.6 last month from a reading of 59.0 in August.
Market players are now awaiting Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which was expected to show that the U.S. economy added more than 200,000 jobs for a sixth successive month in August.
