Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, weighed by disappointing Chinese manufacturing data, although demand for the greenback continued to be pressured by the Federal Reserve's latest policy statement.
AUD/USD hit 0.7839 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7870, slipping 0.13%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7760, Monday's low and resistance at 0.8026, the high of January 28.
Data earlier showed Chinese manufacturing activity swung into contraction territory this month, as the HSBC (LONDON:HSBA) Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index fell to an 11-month low of 49.2 from a reading of 50.7 in February, compared to expectations for a downtick to 50.6.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback remained vulnerable amid uncertainty over the path of U.S. monetary policy after the Federal Reserve downgraded its forecasts for growth and inflation and lowered its interest rate projections last week.
The Aussie was steady against the euro, with EUR/AUD at 1.3897.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release reports on consumer inflation and new home sales.