Australian dollar steady against US dollar

The Australian dollar remained steady against the US dollar today as concerns over how Spain’s financial crisis will be handled continued to impact market sentiment, while yesterday’s positive US manufacturing data helped the greenback, reports Forexpros.

AUD/USD reached a daily high of 1.0355 in the late Asian trade, with the pair later consolidating at 1.0333, moving up by 0.01 per cent. The pair was expected to see support at the 12 April low of 1.0296 and resistance at the 23 April high of 1.0383.

The US dollar remained supported following the Institute for Supply Management’s announcement that its manufacturing activity index went up from 53.4 in March to 54.8 in April, defying expectations of a fall to 53.0.

The positive data offset fears that the US economic recovery is losing momentum after a series of disappointing data recently and cooled talk of a potential third wave of Federal Reserve quantitative easing. Investors remained cautious, however, with elections in France and Greece taking place this weekend and Thursday’s policy meeting of the European Central Bank.

The Australian dollar was faced with broad selling pressure on Tuesday, after markets were surprised by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s larger-than-anticipated cut in the interest rate, to 3.75 per cent, the lowest it has been since early 2010. The move was made in a bid to boost the country’s commodity-linked economy.