Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged up off a six-year low against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, but gains were expected to remain limited as Friday's weak factory data from China continued to weigh on the commodity-linked currencies.
AUD/USD hit 0.7304 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7285, up 0.08%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7257, Friday's low and a six-year low and resistance at 0.7362, Friday's high.
Private sector data showed on Friday that manufacturing activity in China slowed to a 15-month low in July.
The preliminary reading of the Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.2 from a final reading of 49.4 in June. It was the lowest reading since April 2014.
The weak data indicated that growth in China, the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, remains sluggish.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after the Commerce Department reported that new home sales fell 6.8% last month, to an annual rate of 482,000 units, the lowest level since November.
The Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD rising 0.33% to 1.5134.