Forexpros – The Australian dollar rose to a three-day high against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as sentiment improved after better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data and after euro zone finance ministers agreed to strengthen the firepower of the region’s bailout fund.
AUD/USD hit 1.0454 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since March 28; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0409, rising 0.58%.
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.
The Aussie found support as concerns over Chinese economic growth eased after data showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for China rose more-than-expected in March, climbing to an 11-month high of 53.1 from a reading of 51.0 the previous month.
China is Australia’s largest export destination.
Sentiment also improved after euro zone finance ministers agreed on Friday to boost the bloc’s bailout lending limit to EUR800 billion, in order to combat the threat of sovereign debt contagion to larger economies such as Italy and Spain.
In Australia, official data showed earlier that building approvals fell unexpectedly in February, declining 7.8% after a 1.1% rise the previous month.
Analysts had expected building approvals to rise 0.4% in February.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was also higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.55%, to hit 1.2821.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report by the Institute of Supply Management on manufacturing activity.
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