Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, bouncing off a six-week low after the Reserve Bank of Australia left rates unchanged, while investors eyed the European Central Bank’s upcoming policy-setting meeting later in the week.
AUD/USD hit 1.0284 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0283, rising 0.36%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0201, the low of July 16 and resistance at 1.0336, the high of July 25.
In a widely expected move, the RBA held the benchmark interest rate at 3.50%, earlier in the day.
The bank said that, with inflation expected to be consistent with the target and growth close to trend, but with a more subdued international outlook than was the case a few months ago, the current stance of monetary policy remained appropriate.
The announcement came after official data showed that Australia’s current account deficit narrowed more-than-expected in the second quarter, improving to AUD11.8 billion from a deficit of AUD13 billion.
Meanwhile, market sentiment found support after ECB President Mario Draghi indicated on Monday that he would be comfortable buying bonds with maturities of up to about three years, saying that it would not constitute state financing.
At its policy meeting on Thursday, the ECB is expected to announce the details of a long awaited debt-buying program designed to help ease funding pressures for indebted euro zone countries.
Separately, the greenback remained under pressure after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the Fed would act as needed to strengthen the U.S. economic recovery, but he stopped short of indicating that a fresh round of stimulus is imminent.
The Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD falling 0.12%, to hit 1.2274.
Later in the day, the Institute for Supply Management was to release a closely watched report on U.S. manufacturing activity.
AUD/USD hit 1.0284 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0283, rising 0.36%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0201, the low of July 16 and resistance at 1.0336, the high of July 25.
In a widely expected move, the RBA held the benchmark interest rate at 3.50%, earlier in the day.
The bank said that, with inflation expected to be consistent with the target and growth close to trend, but with a more subdued international outlook than was the case a few months ago, the current stance of monetary policy remained appropriate.
The announcement came after official data showed that Australia’s current account deficit narrowed more-than-expected in the second quarter, improving to AUD11.8 billion from a deficit of AUD13 billion.
Meanwhile, market sentiment found support after ECB President Mario Draghi indicated on Monday that he would be comfortable buying bonds with maturities of up to about three years, saying that it would not constitute state financing.
At its policy meeting on Thursday, the ECB is expected to announce the details of a long awaited debt-buying program designed to help ease funding pressures for indebted euro zone countries.
Separately, the greenback remained under pressure after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that the Fed would act as needed to strengthen the U.S. economic recovery, but he stopped short of indicating that a fresh round of stimulus is imminent.
The Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD falling 0.12%, to hit 1.2274.
Later in the day, the Institute for Supply Management was to release a closely watched report on U.S. manufacturing activity.