Forex - AUD/USD up despite flat auto sales data

Investing.com - The Australian dollar continued to regain some lost ground against its U.S. rival during Monday’s Asian session even after tepid new motor vehicles sales data released earlier in the session.

In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD rose 0.37% to 0.9610 after earlier trading as high as 0.9622. Last week, the Aussie rose 1.56% against the greenback, posting its first weekly advance in six weeks against the U.S. currency.

The pair is likely to find support at 0.9324, the low from June 11 and a 33-month low and resistance at 0.9665, Thursday’s session high.

Earlier Monday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new vehicle sales there inched up to a seasonally adjusted 93,209 in May, from 93,182 in April. On a year-over-year basis, the increase was a modest 0.2%.

Passenger vehicle sales fell 1.2% while sales of sports utility vehicles fell 0.1%. Sales of other vehicles, including trucks, rose 3.5%.

Data released last Thursday showed that the number of employed people in Australia rose by 1,100 in May, beating expectations for a 10,000 decline , after a 45,000 increase the previous month.

The report also showed that Australia's unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5% last month, from 5.6% in April. Analysts had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged in May.

Despite the recent weakness in the Aussie, some analysts are sticking by year bullish year-end forecasts for Australian stocks. Fore example, UBS and Macquarie see the ASX/S&P 200 gaining about 10% from current levels.

Other media reports noted that a weaker Aussie could eventually benefit the economy there because the country’s services industry, including tourism-related sub-industries, represents almost 70% of total GDP.

Elsewhere, AUD/JPY surged 0.79% to 90.88 while EUR/AUD fell 0.46% to 1.3877. AUD/NZD dropped 0.13% to 1.1891.