The Australian dollar plummeted to a new 5-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday after Australia's central bank kept interest rates on hold, shocking investors who had expected a rate hike.
AUD/USD hit 0.8781 during the Asian trading session, its lowest rate since Dec. 24; it subsequently hovered around 0.8789. The pair was likely to find support at 0.8733, the low of Dec. 23, and resistance around 0.8927, the daily high.
Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates steady at 3.75%, confounding expectations of a hike, in the wake of a string of increases at the central bank's previous three meetings.
The decision came after the National Australia Bank released disappointing data on its Business Confidence index for December, which dropped to 8 from its previous level of 19.