Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, trading within close distance of a five-and-a-half year trough as markets shrugged off positive Australian business confidence data.
AUD/USD hit 0.7948 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since January 23; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7922.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7871, Monday's low and resistance at 0.8052, the high of January 23.
In a report, the National Australia Bank earlier said that its business confidence index rose to 2 in December from a reading of 1 the previous month.
Investors remained cautious after anti-austerity Syriza party's sweeping election victory in Greece amid concerns over its pledge to renegotiate the terms of Greece's €240 billion international bailout, which could cause the country to leave the euro zone.
Separately, market participants were looking ahead to the outcome of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting, with the bank expected to stick to its pledge to be patient on tightening monetary policy.
The Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD edging up 0.13% to 1.4198.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on durable goods orders, as well as private sector reports on consumer confidence and new home sales.