Forex- AUD/USD takes a breather following consumer data
Published Dec 11, 2012 10:25PM ET
In Asian trading Wednesday, AUD/USD was lower by 0.01% at 1.0528. AUD/USD is likely to find support at 1.0526 and 1.0524. Resistance for the pair can be seen at 1.0532 and 1.0536.
The pair traded higher earlier in the session, perhaps getting a lift from some decent German economic news released during Tuesday’s Europe session. The ZEW index of German economic sentiment rose by 22.6 points to 6.9 in December, from a reading of -15.7 in November and the first positive reading since May.
Analysts were expecting a -12.0 reading. Germany is the Eurozone’s largest economy.
Traders may also be willing to make bullish bets on AUD/USD ahead of the conclusion of the two-day Federal Reserve meeting later today. In what will be the central bank’s last monetary policy meeting of the year, it is unlikely an interest rate reduction comes to pass.
However, traders are hoping the Fed will announce additional quantitative easing. Operation Twist ends this month and it could take news of additional bond-buying to boost riskier assets such as the Australian dollar in the near-term.
AUD/USD did have some economic news to contend with earlier in Wednesday’s Asian trading. The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment for December, released earlier in Wednesday’s session, slipped 4.1% to 100. A reading of 100 indicates there were an equal number of cheery and gloomy outlooks among the survey’s respondents.
That type of news ahead of Christmas and after the Reserve Bank of Australia lowered rates by 25 basis points to 3% earlier this month could put a ceiling on AUD/USD’s upside.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY jumped 0.07% to 86.94 That is the highest for the Australian dollar against the yen since March. NZD/USD was flat at 0.8395 while NZD/JPY climbed 0.07% to 69.32, good for the highest level since May.
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Written By: Investing.com
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