Investing.com - The Australian dollar is trading lower against its U.S. counterpart during Monday’s Asian session following the release of some concerning Chinese economic data points over the weekend.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD is off 0.10% at 1.0278 after gaining 0.32% last week. The pair is likely to find support at 1.0186, the low from March 5 and resistance at 1.0288, the high from March 7.
Coming off a week in which it what was supported by some strong data points in its home nation, including a solid fourth-quarter GDP report and the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping interest rates unchanged, the Aussie is being challenged today by some Chinese data points.
Over the weekend, official data showed that consumer prices in China rose 3.2% in February from a year earlier, above expectations for a 3% increase and accelerating sharply from a 2% rate of increase in January.
Separate reports showed that industrial production rose 9.9% in February, less than the expected 10.5% increase and following a 10.3% rise the previous month.
At a time when China is working to curb rising property prices, the CPI number could be cause for concern while the industrial production data calls into question the veracity of the economic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. China is the largest destination for Australian exports such as iron ore and other commodities.
Looking ahead, this week is again chock full of critical Aussie data points. On Tuesday, the country publishes business confidence data. The next day, Australia releases a report on consumer sentiment, a leading indicator of consumer spending, as well as official data on home loans. Thursday brings news of Australia’s employment situation.
Elsewhere, EUR/AUD rose 0.12% to 1.2714 while AUD/JPY inched up 0.01% to 98.32. AUD/NZD fell 0.19% to 1.2438.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD is off 0.10% at 1.0278 after gaining 0.32% last week. The pair is likely to find support at 1.0186, the low from March 5 and resistance at 1.0288, the high from March 7.
Coming off a week in which it what was supported by some strong data points in its home nation, including a solid fourth-quarter GDP report and the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping interest rates unchanged, the Aussie is being challenged today by some Chinese data points.
Over the weekend, official data showed that consumer prices in China rose 3.2% in February from a year earlier, above expectations for a 3% increase and accelerating sharply from a 2% rate of increase in January.
Separate reports showed that industrial production rose 9.9% in February, less than the expected 10.5% increase and following a 10.3% rise the previous month.
At a time when China is working to curb rising property prices, the CPI number could be cause for concern while the industrial production data calls into question the veracity of the economic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. China is the largest destination for Australian exports such as iron ore and other commodities.
Looking ahead, this week is again chock full of critical Aussie data points. On Tuesday, the country publishes business confidence data. The next day, Australia releases a report on consumer sentiment, a leading indicator of consumer spending, as well as official data on home loans. Thursday brings news of Australia’s employment situation.
Elsewhere, EUR/AUD rose 0.12% to 1.2714 while AUD/JPY inched up 0.01% to 98.32. AUD/NZD fell 0.19% to 1.2438.