Investing.com - The Australia dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after the release of disappointing Australian data, while the greenback remained supported after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments on Wednesday.
AUD/USD hit 0.9159 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since July 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9167, retreating 0.78%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9091, the low of July 16 and near-term resistance at 0.9292, Wednesday's high.
In a report, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index fell to minus 1 in the second quarter, from a reading of 2 in the previous quarter.
Separately, the Conference Board said its leading index was flat in May, after a 0.3% rise the previous month.
On Wednesday, in his semi-annual testimony before the Financial Services Committee in Congress Bernanke said the central bank expects to start tapering bond purchases by the end of the year, but added that there was no “preset course.”
Bernanke said the bank’s bond purchase program could be tapered at a faster pace, slower pace or even temporarily increased depending on economic and financial developments.
Bernanke said the economic recovery was continuing at a moderate pace but reiterated that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future.
The Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD climbing 0.61%, to hit 1.4291.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on the Philly Fed manufacturing index.
AUD/USD hit 0.9159 during late Asian trade, the pair's lowest since July 16; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9167, retreating 0.78%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9091, the low of July 16 and near-term resistance at 0.9292, Wednesday's high.
In a report, the National Australia Bank said its business confidence index fell to minus 1 in the second quarter, from a reading of 2 in the previous quarter.
Separately, the Conference Board said its leading index was flat in May, after a 0.3% rise the previous month.
On Wednesday, in his semi-annual testimony before the Financial Services Committee in Congress Bernanke said the central bank expects to start tapering bond purchases by the end of the year, but added that there was no “preset course.”
Bernanke said the bank’s bond purchase program could be tapered at a faster pace, slower pace or even temporarily increased depending on economic and financial developments.
Bernanke said the economic recovery was continuing at a moderate pace but reiterated that monetary policy will remain accommodative for the foreseeable future.
The Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD climbing 0.61%, to hit 1.4291.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims and data on the Philly Fed manufacturing index.