Forex Pros – The Australian dollar was down against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, ahead of the release of Australian employment data which could have a significant impact on the interest rate outlook.
AUD/USD hit 1.0116 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0118, shedding 0.28%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0053, the low of February 2 and resistance at 1.0189, Tuesday’s high.
Ahead of the release of the report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics warned that all data collected in January could be skewed by the scope of the flooding, which made data collection difficult.
Earlier in the day, Westpac reported a rise in consumer sentiment in February, but the recovery was slowed by the affects of cyclone Yasi which hit Queensland last week.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment rose 1.9% to 106.6 in February from 104.6 in January. However, it failed to make up for a 5.7% fall in January.
“We can best describe the result in February as a modest rebound from the strong reaction to the floods in January,” said Bill Evans, chief economist at Westpac.
The Aussie was also down against the euro, with EUR/AUD climbing 0.34% to hit 1.3474.
Later in the day, the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke was to testify before the Budget Committee in Washington while Australian was to publish official data on employment change and the country’s unemployment rate.
ForexPros.com
