Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady at 3-week lows against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as mounting concerns over a potential Greek default weighed on risk sentiment and boosted demand for the safe-haven greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.7588 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since June 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7657.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7601, the low of June 8 and resistance at 0.7742, the high of June 26.
Investors remained cautious after last ditch Greek debt negotiations broke down over the weekend, bringing the country a step closer to a debt default ahead of a looming deadline for a repayment to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday.
Greece’s bailout is due to expire on Tuesday, the same day that Athens is due to repay €1.6 billion to the IMF, but without a rescue package in place Greece will almost certainly default.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras abandoned negotiations with creditors on Saturday and called for a referendum to be held on July 5 on the terms proposed by lenders for extending the country’s bailout.
European finance ministers refused a request from the Greek government to extend the bailout program until after the referendum.
A Greek official said Monday that banks would remain closed for six days starting on Monday to avert a crisis in the banking sector after deposit outflows accelerated over the weekend. Withdrawals at ATM machines were to be limited to €60 a day per account.
The greenback also remained supported after data on Friday showed that consumer sentiment jumped higher this month, bolstering the outlook for higher interest rates.
The final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 96.1 from 90.7 in May and up from the preliminary reading of 94.6.
The Aussie was sharply higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD dropping 0.66% to 1.4482.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release data on pending home sales.