Investing.com – The Australian dollar was up against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, but gains were capped after a string of worse-than-expected Australian economic data.
AUD/USD hit 0.9981 during European morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9963, easing up 0.03%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9831, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.0002, the high of November 12.
Earlier in the day, the National Australia Bank said business confidence fell for the third consecutive month in November, while a separate report showed that housing starts tumbled in the third quarter.
NAB said its index of business confidence dipped to +6 after dropping to +8 in October.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates at the start of November, and banks sharply increased mortgage lending rates beyond the central bank's rate. The banking hikes sapped confidence and were expected to hit retail sales hard ahead of Christmas.
Elsewhere, the Australian Statistics Bureau said that building starts tumbled 13.2%, after rising by a revised 2.1% in the second quarter. Analysts had expected an decline of 5.0% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Aussie was down against the euro, with EUR/AUD rising 0.3% to hit 1.3485.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation. In addition the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate.
AUD/USD hit 0.9981 during European morning trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9963, easing up 0.03%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9831, Monday’s low and short-term resistance at 1.0002, the high of November 12.
Earlier in the day, the National Australia Bank said business confidence fell for the third consecutive month in November, while a separate report showed that housing starts tumbled in the third quarter.
NAB said its index of business confidence dipped to +6 after dropping to +8 in October.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates at the start of November, and banks sharply increased mortgage lending rates beyond the central bank's rate. The banking hikes sapped confidence and were expected to hit retail sales hard ahead of Christmas.
Elsewhere, the Australian Statistics Bureau said that building starts tumbled 13.2%, after rising by a revised 2.1% in the second quarter. Analysts had expected an decline of 5.0% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Aussie was down against the euro, with EUR/AUD rising 0.3% to hit 1.3485.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation. In addition the Federal Reserve was to announce its federal funds rate.