Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, but remained within close range of a three-month high as investors eyed the Federal Reserve's monthly policy statement due later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.9108 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9110, slipping 0.15%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9010, the low of March 17 and resistance at 0.9167, the high of December 10.
The U.S. central bank was widely expected to continue to roll back its bond purchasing program by $10 billion at the conclusion of its monthly meeting later Wednesday, the first with Janet Yellen at the helm.
Data released on Tuesday indicated that the economic recovery in the U.S. remains sluggish. The annual rate of inflation slowed to 1.1% in February from 1.6% in January. A separate report showed that building permits rose more than expected last month following a steep drop in January, but housing starts slipped.
Demand for the risk-related Aussie had strengthened on Tuesday after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia isn't seeking "a partition of Ukraine", signaling that Russia's moves in Ukraine would be limited.
The comments came during a speech to a joint session of parliament in Moscow, a day after the president recognized the results of Sunday's referendum in Crimea, which saw a majority of voters chose to split from Ukraine.
The Aussie was fractionally lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD edging up 0.09% to 1.5285.