Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to one-week highs against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged and refrained from speaking about possible rate cuts in the future.
AUD/USD hit 0.9048 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since August 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9035 gaining 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8937, Monday's high and resistance at 0.9122, the high of August 20.
At the end of its monthly policy-setting meeting, the RBA held interest rates at a record-low 2.5%, in line with expectations.
Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the bank "will continue to assess the outlook and adjust policy as needed to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target."
Separately, official data showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.1% in July, below expectations for a 0.4% increase, after a flat reading the previous month.
Data also showed that Australia's current account widened unexpectedly in the second quarter, falling to AUD9.4 billion from a downwardly revised deficit of AUD8.7 billion in the three months to March.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to remain unchanged in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to unwind it stimulus program at it policy meeting on September 18.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which is seen as central to the Fed’s decision on tapering.
The Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD declining 0.80%, to hit 1.4577.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.
AUD/USD hit 0.9048 during late Asian trade, the pair's highest since August 25; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9035 gaining 0.65%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8937, Monday's high and resistance at 0.9122, the high of August 20.
At the end of its monthly policy-setting meeting, the RBA held interest rates at a record-low 2.5%, in line with expectations.
Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said the bank "will continue to assess the outlook and adjust policy as needed to foster sustainable growth in demand and inflation outcomes consistent with the target."
Separately, official data showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.1% in July, below expectations for a 0.4% increase, after a flat reading the previous month.
Data also showed that Australia's current account widened unexpectedly in the second quarter, falling to AUD9.4 billion from a downwardly revised deficit of AUD8.7 billion in the three months to March.
Analysts had expected the current account deficit to remain unchanged in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, demand for the greenback remained supported by expectations that the Federal Reserve will start to unwind it stimulus program at it policy meeting on September 18.
Investors were looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report which is seen as central to the Fed’s decision on tapering.
The Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD declining 0.80%, to hit 1.4577.
Later in the day, the Institute of Supply Management was to release data on manufacturing activity.