AUD/USD erased earlier losses following RBA minutes

Australian dollar managed to erase earlier losses against the greenback on Tuesday, after the release of Australian data and the minutes from Reserve Bank of Australias most recent meeting on policy.

AUD/USD fell to a session low at 0.9284 at 1:50 GMT, after which consolidation followed at 0.9316, down by 0.04% for the day. Support was likely to be found at September 9th low, 0.9168, while resistance was to be seen at June 19th high, 0.9557.

“Members agreed that the bank should again neither close off the possibility of reducing rates further nor signal an imminent intention to reduce them,” Reserve Bank of Australia said in the minutes of its meeting, released in Sydney today. “Some further decline in the exchange rate would be helpful.” “Lending rates had declined to historically low levels as a result, which, together with the lower — though still high — exchange rate, were continuing to provide a substantial degree of policy stimulus to the economy,” the minutes also stated.

Traders saw a 40% chance that RBA Governor Glenn Stevens and his team will cut interest rates by April, according to Bloomberg.

The yield on Australian three-year bond added seven basis points to 2.92%, while the yield on the 10-year security rose seven basis points to 4.06%.

In addition, new auto sales in Australia climbed 0.8% on a monthly basis in August, after the 3.6% drop a month ago. On annual basis, sales added 0.2% in August, following the 3.0% rise in July.

Another positive signal for the Aussie was submitted from China, Australias largest export market. The Conference Board research group reported that Chinese leading index increased by 0.7% in August to reach a reading of 269.3, following the 1.4% gain in July and 0.8% gain in June. Five out of the six comprising components of the index registered positive changes during the same month. Despite the higher value in August, the rate of increase has slowed down, while activity in the sector of real estates has contracted significantly. Although retail sales and industrial output have demonstrated a certain improvement recently, the rising risk of Chinese growth deceleration because of countrys housing sector might suggest a suppressed rate of economic growth in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD cross up by 0.13% on a daily basis to trade at 1.4331 at 6:41 GMT. AUD/NZD pair was losing a mere 0.03% to trade at 1.1406 at 6:43 GMT.