Forex Pros – The Australian dollar moved back above parity with its U.S. counterpart on Monday, after official data showed that Australian home-loan approvals rose more-than-expected in December.
AUD/USD hit 1.0074 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since Thursday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0061, gaining 0.35%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.996, Friday’s low and a two-week low and resistance at 1.0139, Thursday’s high.
The Australian Statistics Bureau said the number of loans granted to build or buy houses and apartments climbed 2.1% from November, when they increased 2.5%. Analysts had expected the number of home loan approvals to rise by 1.8%.
First-time home buyers accounted for 15.8% of dwellings that were financed in December, up from 15.6% in November and lower than 21.5% from a year earlier.
The value of loans to investors who planed to rent or resell homes advanced 3%, while the value of lending to owner-occupiers gained 2.3%.
The Aussie was also up against the euro, with EUR/AUD shedding 0.43% to hit 1.3457.
Later in the day, the Reserve Bank of Australia was to publish the minutes of its most recent monetary policy meeting.
ForexPros.com
