Investing.com - The Australian dollar continued what is now becoming an extended period of strength against the U.S. dollar during Monday’s Asian ahead of what could be a big week for the Aussie.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD jumped 0.38% to 0.9218. A move above the 0.9200 was previously viewed by traders as crucial to the Aussie’s near-term fortunes because it could trigger a spate of short-covering. The Aussie has been among the most heavily shorted developed market currencies in the world in recent months.
The pair is likely to find support at 0.9057, Thursday’s low and short-term resistance at 0.9220, the high from August 12.
Indeed, traders have already been reducing bearish bets on the Aussie. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
The Aussie was also bolstered following some tepid economic data out of the U.S. In U.S. economic news out last Friday, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for August fell to 80 from 85.1 in July. The August reading was the worst in four months.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 5.9% to 896,000 units. Economists expected housing starts to rise to 900,000 units.
Moments ago, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new vehicle sales fell 3.5% last month to 93,797 units. Nearly 97,700 new vehicles were sold there in June. Total sales on a gross, year-over-year basis are now 3% higher than they were a year earlier.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY rose 0.19% to 89.81. AUD/NZD added 0.14% to 1.1346 after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%. On Tuesday, New Zealand will release inflation data.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD jumped 0.38% to 0.9218. A move above the 0.9200 was previously viewed by traders as crucial to the Aussie’s near-term fortunes because it could trigger a spate of short-covering. The Aussie has been among the most heavily shorted developed market currencies in the world in recent months.
The pair is likely to find support at 0.9057, Thursday’s low and short-term resistance at 0.9220, the high from August 12.
Indeed, traders have already been reducing bearish bets on the Aussie. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
The Aussie was also bolstered following some tepid economic data out of the U.S. In U.S. economic news out last Friday, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment for August fell to 80 from 85.1 in July. The August reading was the worst in four months.
The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 5.9% to 896,000 units. Economists expected housing starts to rise to 900,000 units.
Moments ago, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new vehicle sales fell 3.5% last month to 93,797 units. Nearly 97,700 new vehicles were sold there in June. Total sales on a gross, year-over-year basis are now 3% higher than they were a year earlier.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY rose 0.19% to 89.81. AUD/NZD added 0.14% to 1.1346 after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%. On Tuesday, New Zealand will release inflation data.