Australian Dollar Recovers As Asian Shares Traded Higher

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar recovered from its recent losses against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Wednesday, as softer-than-expected U.S. consumer sentiment and job openings data helped ease concerns about interest rates, lifting investor sentiment. Chinese stimulus measures are also aiding market sentiment.

Crude oil prices climbed higher with traders weighing the likely impact of the Hurricane Idalia on energy operations in the Gulf of Mexico, while a weak dollar also contributed to the uptick. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October climbed $1.06 or 1.3 percent at $81.16 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the Australian dollar fell against its major counterparts after the nation's inflation eased in July. Thereafter, the currency recouped its losses.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's CPI eased to 4.9 percent annually in July, down from 5.4 percent in June. Economists expect a rise of 5.2 percent in July.

The agency also reported that the total number of building permits issued in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 8.1 percent on month in July, coming in at 12,668. That was well shy of forecasts for a decline of 0.8 percent following the downwardly revised 7.9 percent contraction in June.

The value of total construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent on quarter in the second quarter of 2023, coming in at A$59.010 billion. That missed forecasts for an increase of 1.0 percent following the 1.8 percent gain in the three months prior.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar rose to more than a 2-week high of 94.67 against the yen from a recent low of 94.17. The aussie may test resistance near the 96.00 region.

Moving away from a 2-day low of 1.0838 against the NZ dollar, the aussie edged up to 1.0876. On the upside, 1.10 is seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

The aussie advanced to 1.6780 against the euro from a recent low of 1.6852. The aussie may find its next resistance level around the 1.63 region.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie edged up to 0.6475 and 0.8786 from recent lows of 0.6450 and 0.8755, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 0.66 against the greenback and 0.90 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.K. mortgage approvals data for July and Eurozone consumer sentiment index for August are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, MBA mortgage approvals data, German preliminary inflation rate for August, U.S. GDP growth rate for the second quarter, goods trade balance for July, wholesale inventories data for July, pending home sales data for July and U.S. EIA weekly crude oil report are slated to be published.