Investing.com – The Australian dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as tepid domestic inflation data and concerns over the outcome of a critical European Union summit later in the day weighed.
AUD/USD hit 1.0356 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0383, shedding 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0202, last Friday’s low and resistance at 1.0496, Tuesday’s high and a six-week high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer price inflation rose 0.6% in the third quarter from the previous three months, when it rose 0.9%.
Core inflation rose 0.3% from the previous quarter, the lowest rate of increase since 2000 and 2.3% year-on-year. Economists had forecast a quarter-to-quarter gain of 0.7% and an annual rise of 2.7%.
The data fuelled speculation over a near-term rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Meanwhile, expectations that EU leaders would make progress on a plan to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone were dampened after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, scheduled to take place ahead of the summit, was cancelled.
The Aussie was also down against the yen, with AUD/JPY shedding 0.66% to hit 78.80.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to release government data on durable goods orders, as well as official data on new home sales and crude oil stockpiles.
AUD/USD hit 1.0356 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since Monday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0383, shedding 0.43%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0202, last Friday’s low and resistance at 1.0496, Tuesday’s high and a six-week high.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said consumer price inflation rose 0.6% in the third quarter from the previous three months, when it rose 0.9%.
Core inflation rose 0.3% from the previous quarter, the lowest rate of increase since 2000 and 2.3% year-on-year. Economists had forecast a quarter-to-quarter gain of 0.7% and an annual rise of 2.7%.
The data fuelled speculation over a near-term rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Meanwhile, expectations that EU leaders would make progress on a plan to contain the debt crisis in the euro zone were dampened after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers, scheduled to take place ahead of the summit, was cancelled.
The Aussie was also down against the yen, with AUD/JPY shedding 0.66% to hit 78.80.
Later Wednesday, the U.S. was to release government data on durable goods orders, as well as official data on new home sales and crude oil stockpiles.