Forexpros – The Australian dollar fell to a two-month low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after downbeat Chinese manufacturing data added to concerns over China’s slowing demand for Australian commodity exports.
AUD/USD hit 1.0377 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since January 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0385, shedding 0.69%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0358, the low of January 18 and resistance at 1.0487, the high of January 20.
Preliminary data from HSBC showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 48.1 in March, from a final reading of 49.6 the previous month, as new orders dropped to their lowest level since November.
The data underlined concerns over a possible slowdown in growth in the world’s second largest economy.
Elsewhere, Japan reported an unexpected trade surplus for February and higher-than-forecast exports, adding to evidence of a rebound in the world’s third-biggest economy.
Japan is Australia’s biggest export partner.
The Aussie was higher against the New Zealand dollar with AUD/NZD adding 0.30%, to hit 1.2855.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish official data on initial jobless claims and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was due to speak.
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