Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to four-week highs against its U.S. counterparts on Tuesday, after the release of globally positive economic reports from Australia, while investors eyed a testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen later in the day.
AUD/USD hit 0.9015 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since January 14; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9013, gaining 0.71%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8907, Monday's low and resistance at 0.9086, the high of January 13.
The National Australia Bank said its business confidence index rose to 8 in January, from a reading of 6 the previous month.
A separate report showed that house price inflation in Australia rose 3.4% in the fourth quarter, exceeding expectations for a 3% increase. House price inflation in the third quarter was revised up to a 2.4% gain from a previously estimated 1.9% rise.
Official data also showed that Australia home loans declined 1.9% in December, compared to expectations for a 0.9% rise. November home loans were revised up to a 1.4% rise from a previously estimated 1.1% gain.
In the U.S., Ms. Yellen was to testify on monetary policy and the outlook for the economy before the House Financial Services Committee later Tuesday and the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
The Fed chair was expected to reiterate that the bank will continue to unwind its stimulus program as long as the economic recovery continues as expected, and to repeat that the bank will keep interest rates at current record lows for some time to come.
The testimony is coming amid fresh concerns over the outlook for the recovery, following the weakest two-month stretch of U.S. job creation in three years in December and January.
The Aussie was higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD dropping 0.59% to 1.5156.