Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose to a four-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, as cautious optimism marked the first trading week of 2012 although worries over the euro zone’s debt crisis continued to linger.
AUD/USD hit 1.0310 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since December 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0298, adding 0.62%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0194, the low of January 2 and resistance at 1.0379, the high of December 8.
Market sentiment found support after data on Sunday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded in December after contracting the previous month.
Meanwhile, investors were eyeing a series of important events this month, including German and French bond auctions later in the week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also due to meet on January 9 in order to discuss new rules to enforce budget discipline across the European Union.
Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that commodity prices rose 10.9% in December, after a 17.5% increase the previous month.
November’s figure had been revised down from 18.1%.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.24%, to hit 1.2611.
Later in the day, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to publish a report on manufacturing activity and the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its December policy meeting.
AUD/USD hit 1.0310 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since December 8; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0298, adding 0.62%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0194, the low of January 2 and resistance at 1.0379, the high of December 8.
Market sentiment found support after data on Sunday showed that Chinese manufacturing activity expanded in December after contracting the previous month.
Meanwhile, investors were eyeing a series of important events this month, including German and French bond auctions later in the week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are also due to meet on January 9 in order to discuss new rules to enforce budget discipline across the European Union.
Earlier Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that commodity prices rose 10.9% in December, after a 17.5% increase the previous month.
November’s figure had been revised down from 18.1%.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.24%, to hit 1.2611.
Later in the day, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to publish a report on manufacturing activity and the Federal Reserve was to publish the minutes of its December policy meeting.