Forexpros – The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s last meeting showed that policymakers saw continued expansion in the domestic economy.
AUD/USD hit 0.9953 during late Asian trade, the daily high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9940, gaining 0.44%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9812, the low of November 22 and resistance at 1.0044, the high of December 14.
At its December policy setting meeting, the RBA said that the recent data on the domestic economy had been mixed but, on balance, slightly stronger than was the case around the middle of the year.
The RBA lowered its key interest rate to 4.25% from 4.50% earlier this month, citing risks to global growth from the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis.
But the Aussie’s gains were limited after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Monday that the ECB’s purchases of peripheral debt were temporary and “not infinite”, disappointing hopes for further bond buying.
He also said 2012 will be a difficult year for the euro zone’s banks, and recovery in economic activity in the region is likely to be slow.
Following a conference call, European Union finance ministers agreed to boost International Monetary Fund resources by EUR150 billion in order to tackle the region’s financial woes.
The Aussie was also higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.37%, to hit 1.3088.
Earlier in the day, the Conference Board for Australia said that its leading index rose 0.6% in October, after a 0.6% increase the previous month.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. was to publish data on building permits and housing starts.
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