Forexpros – The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rate unchanged but said it may cut rates as soon as next month if growth doesn’t pick up.
AUD/USD hit 0.9014 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0402, shedding 0.16%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0336, the low of March 30 and resistance at 1.0480, the high of March 23.
Earlier Tuesday, the RBA held its benchmark interest rate at 4.25%, in a widely expected decision, but warned that may resume cutting interest rates as soon as April if weaker-than-expected growth slows inflation.
Commenting on the decision, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that “the board judged the pace of output growth to be somewhat lower than earlier estimated, but also thought it prudent to see forthcoming key data on prices to reassess its outlook for inflation, before considering a further step to ease monetary policy.”
Also Tuesday, official data showed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.2% in February, in line with expectations, after a 0.3% increase the previous month.
Meanwhile, the Aussie remained supported as risk sentiment strengthened after data showed on Monday that manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose at a faster rate than expected in March, expanding for the 32nd consecutive month.
Elsewhere, the Australian dollar was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD gaining 0.29%, to hit 1.2823.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to produce official data on factory orders, while the Federal Reserve was to release the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.
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