Forexpros – The Australian dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, following weak Australian economic data as market sentiment waned amid sustained concerns over Spain’s financial woes.
AUD/USD hit 1.0437 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0454, shedding 0.19%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0382, the low of January 20 and resistance at 1.0526, the high of March 21.
A report by the Housing Industry Association showed earlier that new home sales in Australia dropped 9.4% in March, after a 3% rise the previous month.
The Reserve Bank of Australia also said that private sector credit rose 0.4% in April, above expectations for a 0.3% rise and following a 0.4% increase the previous month.
Meanwhile, risk sentiment remained under pressure after ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s long-term credit rating to BBB+ from A and gave it a negative outlook on Thursday, saying that the recession will undermine government efforts to reduce one of the largest budget deficits in the single currency bloc.
Elsewhere, expectations for further stimulus measures by the Federal Reserve weighed on the greenback after the U.S. Commerce Department said on Friday that gross domestic product expanded at a rate of 2.2% in the three months to March, below expectations for a 2.5% increase.
The Aussie was also lower against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD declining 0.16%, to hit 1.2718.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on core personal consumption expenditures price inflation and on personal spending, followed by a report on business activity in Chicago.
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