Investing.com – The Australian dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, trading close to a five-week low as concerns over the global economic outlook weighed on demand for riskier assets.
AUD/USD hit 1.0184 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0234, shedding 0.47%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0167, the low of August 10 and resistance at 1.0370, Wednesday’s high.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5% and indicated that rates are likely remain on hold amid risks that the global recovery could slow “sharply.”
In Australia, a report by the Melbourne Institute showed that inflation expectations eased up to 2.8% in September from 2.7% the previous month, as weakness in the domestic labor market and uncertainty over the global outlook weighed.
The soft data underlined expectations that the central bank will leave rates on hold in the coming months.
Elsewhere, worries over the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone also weighed on risk appetite, as investors eyed a Spanish debt auction later in the day and as speculation mounted over a possible downgrade of Italy’s sovereign debt rating.
The Aussie was also down against the yen, with AUD/JPY shedding 0.265 to hit 78.53.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish a string of data, with government reports on consumer price inflation, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims. The country was also to publish official data on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak.
AUD/USD hit 1.0184 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0234, shedding 0.47%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0167, the low of August 10 and resistance at 1.0370, Wednesday’s high.
Earlier in the day, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.5% and indicated that rates are likely remain on hold amid risks that the global recovery could slow “sharply.”
In Australia, a report by the Melbourne Institute showed that inflation expectations eased up to 2.8% in September from 2.7% the previous month, as weakness in the domestic labor market and uncertainty over the global outlook weighed.
The soft data underlined expectations that the central bank will leave rates on hold in the coming months.
Elsewhere, worries over the ongoing debt crisis in the euro zone also weighed on risk appetite, as investors eyed a Spanish debt auction later in the day and as speculation mounted over a possible downgrade of Italy’s sovereign debt rating.
The Aussie was also down against the yen, with AUD/JPY shedding 0.265 to hit 78.53.
Later Thursday, the U.S. was to publish a string of data, with government reports on consumer price inflation, as well as the weekly report on initial jobless claims. The country was also to publish official data on manufacturing activity in New York and Philadelphia and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to speak.