Investing.com - The Australian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, as investors were cautious ahead of a Spanish debt auction later in the day while weak Chinese data weighed on risk sentiment.
AUD/USD hit 1.0287 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0296, slipping 0.13%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0228, the low of January 10 and resistance at 1.0371, the high of January 5.
Spain was due to sell up to EUR5 billion euros of government bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016 a day before Italy’s Treasury planned to auction EUR4.75 billion of five-year bonds.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.36%, while the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained just the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.04%.
Markets were also eyeing the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
On Wednesday, Fitch ratings agency said the ECB should ramp up its buying of troubled euro zone debt to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro.
Meanwhile, sentiment was also hit after data showed that Chinese consumer price inflation eased to 4.1% in December, its lowest level in 15 months, from 4.2% the previous month.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD rising 0.14%, to hit 1.2342.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.
AUD/USD hit 1.0287 during late Asian trade, the daily low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0296, slipping 0.13%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0228, the low of January 10 and resistance at 1.0371, the high of January 5.
Spain was due to sell up to EUR5 billion euros of government bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016 a day before Italy’s Treasury planned to auction EUR4.75 billion of five-year bonds.
The yield on Spanish 10-year bonds was at 5.36%, while the yield on 10-year Italian government bonds remained just the 7% threshold seen as unsustainable, at 7.04%.
Markets were also eyeing the European Central Bank’s policy meeting later Thursday. The ECB was expected to keep rates unchanged at 1% and to reiterate that governments in the euro zone must step up efforts to tackle the region’s debt crisis.
On Wednesday, Fitch ratings agency said the ECB should ramp up its buying of troubled euro zone debt to support Italy and prevent a "cataclysmic" collapse of the euro.
Meanwhile, sentiment was also hit after data showed that Chinese consumer price inflation eased to 4.1% in December, its lowest level in 15 months, from 4.2% the previous month.
Elsewhere, the Aussie was lower against the euro with EUR/AUD rising 0.14%, to hit 1.2342.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on retail sales and initial jobless claims.