Investing.com - The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as demand for the greenback weakened amid lower expectations for a U.S. rate hike in the near future.
AUD/USD hit 0.7797 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7795, rising 0.32%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7707, the low of June 18 and resistance at 0.7850, the high of June 18.
The greenback remained under pressure after the Federal Reserve's rate statement last week tempered expectations for a rate hike later this year.
The Fed lowered both its U.S. growth forecast and its interest-rate projections, prompting investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank wanted to see "more decisive evidence" of sustained growth before raising rates, but acknowledged that the economy has "expanded moderately" after a weak first quarter.
The Australian dollar had weakened last week after the Reserve Bank of Australia reaffirmed, in the minutes of its June policy meeting, that it would consider further cuts if necessary.
The Aussie was lower agains the euro, with EUR/AUD up 0.11% to 14621.
Sentiment on the single currency remained fragile as a deadlock between Athens and its international lenders continued ahead of the approaching deadline for Greece’s repayments to the International Monetary Fund at the end of the month.
A default by Greece could lead to the country’s exit from the euro zone.