The Australian dollar lifted against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the greenback weakened on the back of rising interest rate concerns and the growing political tension in Syria.

At the Asian market open 07:00 (AEST), the local unit was trading at 77.54 U.S. cents, up from 77.45 U.S. cents on Wednesday.

When the U.S. Federal Reserve met at a minutes meeting Wednesday, they highlighted that rising inflation may require interest rates to be raised faster than previously thought.

However BK Asset Management managing director of FX strategy Kathy Lien explained that a "sell-off on Wall Street meant the U.S. dollar was unable to rally on the back of hawkish Fed minutes because politics was the main focus for markets overnight."

At 09:30 (AEST), the Australian dollar had moved further and was buying 77.62 U.S. cents.