Forexpros – The Australian dollar was steady against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, as markets were jittery amid concerns over Spanish and Italian financial troubles, while political uncertainty in Greece also continued to weigh.
AUD/USD hit 0.9931 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9954, easing 0.05%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.9882, the low of May 17 and resistance at 1.0014, the high of May 15.
Investors remained cautious as Italy’s Treasury was preparing to sell up to EUR6.5 billion of 364-day bills later in the day, followed by a longer-maturity debt auction on Thursday. Attention recently shifted to Italy’s financial difficulties after Spain became the fourth euro zone country to seek a bailout.
Market sentiment was hit after Spanish 10-year bonds climbed to a record high of 6.82% on Tuesday, while the yield on Italian 10-year bonds rose to 6.27%, moving closer to the critical 7% threshold which precipitated bailouts in Greece, Ireland and Portugal.
In Australia, a report by the Westpac Banking Corporation showed earlier that consumer sentiment rose 0.3% in June, after a 0.8% increase the previous month.
The data came after Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens said in a speech that Australians should learn to enjoy the high Aussie, despite its impact on export industries like tourism and manufacturing, citing cheaper petrol prices and overseas travel as benefits from the strong currency.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD adding 0.09%, to hit 1.2567.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and producer price inflation, followed by reports on business inventories and crude oil stockpiles. A 10-year U.S. government bond auction was also to take place.
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