Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, easing off a five-and-a-half year low after the release of positive Australian trade balance data, although demand for the greenback continued to be broadly supported.
AUD/USD hit 0.8158 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since January 2; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8129, gaining 0.56%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8034, Monday's low and a five-and-a-half year low and resistance at 0.8217, the high of December 31.
In a report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the country's trade deficit widened to A$0.93 billion in November from A$0.88 billion in October, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated deficit of A$1.32 billion.
Analysts had expected the trade deficit to widen to A$1.59 billion in November.
But investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over Greece’s future in the euro zone if far-left anti-austerity party Syriza won elections due to be held later this month.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback continued to be underpinned by the diverging policy outlook between the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Japan.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates in the coming year as the steady economic recovery in the U.S. continues.
The Aussie was also higher against the euro, with EUR/AUD sliding 0.39% to 1.4702.