Forexpros – The Australian dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as concerns over the outlook for global economic growth continued to weigh on demand for risk-related assets.
AUD/USD hit 1.0179 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since June 29; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0184, falling 0.27%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0132, the low of June 20 and resistance at 1.0277, the high of July 2.
The Aussie fell to a one-week low against the greenback on Friday, after the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the economy added 80,000 jobs in June, below market forecasts for a gain of around 90,000.
April figures were revised to 68,000 from 77,000 jobs, while May’s numbers were revised to 77,000 from 69,000.
Although the data was weaker than expected, many investors said it was not bad enough to spur the Federal Reserve to launch a third round of quantitative easing.
The report also showed that the U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 8.2% in June, in line with expectations.
Meanwhile, data showing earlier Monday that consumer and producer prices in China eased more-than-expected in June added to concerns over the outlook for growth in the world’s second largest economy, after the People’s Bank of China cut interest rates for the second time in less than a month last Thursday.
Consumer price inflation rose 2.2% in June, less than expectations for a 2.4% increase, while producer price inflation fell 2.1%, more than expectations for a 2.0% decline.
China is Australia’s biggest export partner.
In Australia, industry data showed earlier that the number of job advertisements fell 1.2% in June, following a 2.6% decline the previous month.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD adding 0.25%, to hit 1.2063.
Later in the day, a report was to be produced on investor confidence in the euro zone, while European Central bank President Mario Draghi was to testify before the European Parliament.
Investors were also eyeing a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Brussels, to discuss a plan announced last month to help the region’s indebted nations and banking systems.
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