The Australian dollar hit an almost two week high after official data showed business investment intentions for the coming financial year are getting stronger.

At 0700 AEST on Friday, the local unit was trading at 93.08 US cents, up from 92.84 cents on Thursday.

The currency peaked at 93.13 US cents on Thursday evening, its highest level since Tuesday of last week.

Official figures released on Thursday showed investment intentions for 2014/15 in the non-mining sectors of the the economy were 12 per cent higher than three months ago.

National Australia Bank global co-head of FX strategy Ray Attrill said the Australian dollar had a mixed reaction to the capital expenditure data at first.

“The Australian dollar was initially sold on the weaker than expected 4.2 per cent drop in first quarter capital expenditure, only to rally back on the revelation that capex expectations for the 2014/15 financial year had been revised up by more than is typically the case between the first and second estimates,” he said.

“The latter carried the day in terms of foreign exchange reaction.”

There was little market reaction to data overnight showing the US economy contracted by 0.1 per cent in the March quarter.

The downturn was mainly attributed to harsh winter storms which hit the country in the first months of the year.

Economists are confident the downturn is temporary.

US stocks shrugged off the news, and instead paid more attention to a takeover battle for hot dog maker Hillshire Brands, which helped push the S&P 500 index to a new record close.

AAP