Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, after downbeat Australian home sales data and as concerns over a Greek default continued to dampen demand for riskier assets.
AUD/USD hit 0.7695 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7681.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7584, Monday's low and a one-and-a-half month low and resistance at 0.7742, the high of June 26.
Industry data earlier showed that Australia's new home sales fell by 2.3% in May, after a 0.6% rise the previous month.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained supported after Greek Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras interrupted last-ditch debt negotiations early Saturday and said he was calling a referendum for July 5 on whether to accept the terms offered by international creditors.
The Greek government ordered an emergency bank shutdown on Sunday night and the central bank moved to impose capital controls as the banking system neared insolvency after deposit outflows accelerated over the weekend.
The U.S. dollar was also boosted after data showed that pending home sales in the U.S. rose to the highest level since 2006 in May.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index increased by 0.9% last month, compared to expectations for a gain of 1.2%.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar, with AUD/NZD advancing 0.66% to 1.1282.
Also Tuesday, data showed that the ANZ Business Confidence Index for New Zealand fell by 2.3% in June, after an increase of 15.7% the previous month.
A separate report showed that New Zealand's building consents were flat in May after a 0.9% slip in April, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 1.7% decline.