Investing.com - The Australian dollar was almost unchanged against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as fresh easing measures by the Bank of Japan supported risk appetite, although sustained concerns over the handling of Spain's debt woes limited gains.
AUD/USD hit 1.0475 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0462, inching up 0.04%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0376, the low of August 24 and resistance at 1.0547, the high of September 17.
The BoJ said earlier that it was boosting the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion, in an effort to boost slowing economic activity and to counter the strengthening yen.
In a statement accompanying the policy decision, the bank said the pickup in economic activity has “come to a pause” as overseas economies moved deeper into slowdown, and that the activity was “expected to level off, more or less.”
Meanwhile, risk sentiment remained under pressure amid reports Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is uncertain about asking for help from the European Central Bank's new bond-purchasing program, which would mean signing up to a permanent bailout fund.
In Australia, the Melbourne Institute said that its leading index of economic indicators rose 0.4% in July, following a 0.5% increase the previous month.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD falling 0.10%, to hit 1.2627.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that New Zealand's current account deficit widened more-than-expected in the second quarter, falling to NZD180 billion from a deficit of NZD1.07 billion in the previous quarter.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to NZD1.64 billion in the second quarter.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits and on housing starts, followed by government data on crude oil stockpiles, as well as an industry report on existing home sales.
AUD/USD hit 1.0475 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0462, inching up 0.04%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0376, the low of August 24 and resistance at 1.0547, the high of September 17.
The BoJ said earlier that it was boosting the size of its asset-purchase program by JPY10 trillion, in an effort to boost slowing economic activity and to counter the strengthening yen.
In a statement accompanying the policy decision, the bank said the pickup in economic activity has “come to a pause” as overseas economies moved deeper into slowdown, and that the activity was “expected to level off, more or less.”
Meanwhile, risk sentiment remained under pressure amid reports Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is uncertain about asking for help from the European Central Bank's new bond-purchasing program, which would mean signing up to a permanent bailout fund.
In Australia, the Melbourne Institute said that its leading index of economic indicators rose 0.4% in July, following a 0.5% increase the previous month.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD falling 0.10%, to hit 1.2627.
Also Wednesday, official data showed that New Zealand's current account deficit widened more-than-expected in the second quarter, falling to NZD180 billion from a deficit of NZD1.07 billion in the previous quarter.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to widen to NZD1.64 billion in the second quarter.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on building permits and on housing starts, followed by government data on crude oil stockpiles, as well as an industry report on existing home sales.