Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to four-and-a-half month highs against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, despite a decline in Australia's business confidence, as Friday's disappointing U.S. employment report continued to weigh on the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.9296 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since November 21; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9311, gaining 0.40%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9206, the low of April 3 and resistance at 0.9334, the high of November 21.
The National Australia Bank earlier said that its business confidence index fell to 4 in March, from a reading of 7 the previous month.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback still remained vulnerable after last week’s U.S. payrolls report disappointed some market expectations for a stronger number.
Investors were eyeing Wednesday’s minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting for further indications on the future direction of monetary policy.
The Aussie was lower against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD slipping 0.12% to 1.0768.
Also Tuesday, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research said its business confidence index ticked down to 52 in the first quarter, from a reading of 53 in the fourth quarter, whose figure was revised up from a previously estimated reading of 52.