Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged down against the U.S. dollar in subdued trade on Monday, to hover near 11-month lows as speculation over a possible near-term end to the Federal Reserve's bond puchasing program lent support to the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.9616 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9636, slipping 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9594, the low of May 23 and an 11-month low and resistance at 0.9708, the high of May 24.
The greenback found support last week after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said a decision to scale back the U.S. central bank’s USD85 billion-dollar-a-month asset purchase program could be taken in the "next few meetings" depending on economic data.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes from the U.S. central bank’s May meeting showed a "number" of policymakers were prepared to taper bonds purchases as soon as June.
The Aussie remained under pressure after data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 in May, below the 50 level that separates contraction from growth down from a final reading of 50.4 in April.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
The Aussie was also lower against the euro with EUR/AUD adding 0.16%, to hit 1.3424.
Trading volumes were expected to remain low as U.S. markets were to remain closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
AUD/USD hit 0.9616 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9636, slipping 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9594, the low of May 23 and an 11-month low and resistance at 0.9708, the high of May 24.
The greenback found support last week after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said a decision to scale back the U.S. central bank’s USD85 billion-dollar-a-month asset purchase program could be taken in the "next few meetings" depending on economic data.
Meanwhile, Wednesday’s minutes from the U.S. central bank’s May meeting showed a "number" of policymakers were prepared to taper bonds purchases as soon as June.
The Aussie remained under pressure after data on Thursday showed that the preliminary reading of China’s HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.6 in May, below the 50 level that separates contraction from growth down from a final reading of 50.4 in April.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
The Aussie was also lower against the euro with EUR/AUD adding 0.16%, to hit 1.3424.
Trading volumes were expected to remain low as U.S. markets were to remain closed for the Memorial Day holiday.