Forexpros – The Australian dollar tumbled to a four-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, as concerns over the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone weighed on demand for riskier assets.
AUD/USD hit 1.0293 during late Asian trade, the pair’s lowest since August 12; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0304, falling 1.57%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0244, the low of August 12 and resistance at 1.0440, the days high.
Market sentiment was weighed by fears over a possible default by Greece, following media reports that Germany’s government had made plans to insulate the country’s banking sector in case of a default by Athens.
The Australian dollar was also pressured lower after official data showed that Australia’s trade surplus expanded less-than-expected in July as exports exceeded imports by AUD1.83 billion, compared with a revised AUD1.82 billion surplus the previous month.
The Aussie was also sharply lower against the broadly stronger yen, with AUD/JPY plunging 2.42% to hit 79.25.
Later in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to hold talks on the debt crisis with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Forexpros
