For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the AUD rose 0.24% against the USD and closed at 0.7183.
LME Copper prices declined 0.9% or $55.5/MT to $5908.5/MT. Aluminium prices rose 0.1% or $2.0/MT to $1844.0/MT.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 0.7202, with the AUD trading 0.26% higher against the USD from yesterday’s close.
Overnight data showed that Australia’s seasonally adjusted retail sales climbed to a 5-month high level of 0.4% on a monthly basis in November, beating market expectations for a rise of 0.3%. In the prior month, retail sales had recorded a gain of 0.3%. On the other hand, the nation’s AIG performance of construction index declined to a level of 42.6 in December, following a reading of 44.5 in the previous month.
The pair is expected to find support at 0.7177, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 0.7151. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 0.7217, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 0.7231.
Amid lack of economic releases in Australia today, traders would focus on global macroeconomic events for further direction.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
