Investing.com - The Australian dollar traded higher against its U.S. rival during Friday’s Asian session as traders see a reduced chance the Reserve Bank of Australia will lower interest rates again in the near-term.
In Asian trading Friday, AUD/USD jumped 0.46% to 0.9438. The pair was likely to find support at 0.9280, the low of September 30 and resistance at 0.9434, Tuesday’s high.
The Aussie rallied a day after data showed the number of building permits issued in August fell 4.7% from a month earlier, following a 10.2% increase in July. Analysts had expected building permits to decline 2%.
The Aussie is head for weekly gains against most of its major rivals as traders have taken a more positive stance toward riskier currencies even in the face of the first U.S. government slowdown since the 1990s. Westpac Banking Corp. boosted its year-end forecast for AUD/USD to 0.9500 from 0.9200.
Traders see a 69 percent chance the RBA will keep its benchmark at 2.5% by its Dec. 3 meeting, up from 62% a month ago, Bloomberg reported.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ISM non-manfacturing PMI showed a sharper than expected decline from 58.6 to 54.4, lower than the consensus at 57.4.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 28 rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, better than analysts' calls for jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 313,000 last week.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY jumped 0.44% to 91.78 while AUD/USD advanced 0.43% to 1.1376.
In Asian trading Friday, AUD/USD jumped 0.46% to 0.9438. The pair was likely to find support at 0.9280, the low of September 30 and resistance at 0.9434, Tuesday’s high.
The Aussie rallied a day after data showed the number of building permits issued in August fell 4.7% from a month earlier, following a 10.2% increase in July. Analysts had expected building permits to decline 2%.
The Aussie is head for weekly gains against most of its major rivals as traders have taken a more positive stance toward riskier currencies even in the face of the first U.S. government slowdown since the 1990s. Westpac Banking Corp. boosted its year-end forecast for AUD/USD to 0.9500 from 0.9200.
Traders see a 69 percent chance the RBA will keep its benchmark at 2.5% by its Dec. 3 meeting, up from 62% a month ago, Bloomberg reported.
In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the ISM non-manfacturing PMI showed a sharper than expected decline from 58.6 to 54.4, lower than the consensus at 57.4.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 28 rose by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 308,000, better than analysts' calls for jobless claims to rise by 6,000 to 313,000 last week.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY jumped 0.44% to 91.78 while AUD/USD advanced 0.43% to 1.1376.