Investing.com - The Australian dollar is trading lower against its U.S. rival in Wednesday’s Asian session after an unexpectedly slack February home loans report.
In Asian trading Wednesday, AUD/USD is off 0.07% at 1.0318. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0249, the low of February 25 and resistance at 1.0329, the high of February 25.
Earlier today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian home loans checked in with a seasonally adjusted reading of -1.5% in February. The January reading was revised to -1.5% from -2.1%. Analysts expected a February reading of 0.6%.
The home loans report followed another lackluster Aussie data point released Tuesday. That is when the National Bank of Australia said its index of business confidence fell to 1 in February from a reading of 3 the previous month.
Those reports come on the heels of some strong Australian data. Last week, the world’s 12th-largest economy delivered a solid fourth-quarter GDP report while the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged at 3%. Traders see a declining chance of a rate cut when the central bank meets again in early April.
Elsewhere, GBP/AUD rose 0.14% to 1.4454 a day after the pair sank to its lowest levels in 28 years. AUD/JPY fell 0.15% to 99.05 a day after the Aussie climbed to its highest levels in four years against the yen.
AUD/NZD added 0.22% to 1.2513 while EUR/AUD rose 0.08% to 1.2634.
In Asian trading Wednesday, AUD/USD is off 0.07% at 1.0318. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0249, the low of February 25 and resistance at 1.0329, the high of February 25.
Earlier today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that Australian home loans checked in with a seasonally adjusted reading of -1.5% in February. The January reading was revised to -1.5% from -2.1%. Analysts expected a February reading of 0.6%.
The home loans report followed another lackluster Aussie data point released Tuesday. That is when the National Bank of Australia said its index of business confidence fell to 1 in February from a reading of 3 the previous month.
Those reports come on the heels of some strong Australian data. Last week, the world’s 12th-largest economy delivered a solid fourth-quarter GDP report while the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged at 3%. Traders see a declining chance of a rate cut when the central bank meets again in early April.
Elsewhere, GBP/AUD rose 0.14% to 1.4454 a day after the pair sank to its lowest levels in 28 years. AUD/JPY fell 0.15% to 99.05 a day after the Aussie climbed to its highest levels in four years against the yen.
AUD/NZD added 0.22% to 1.2513 while EUR/AUD rose 0.08% to 1.2634.