Australian Dollar Trades Lower After RBA Minutes

The Australian currency drifted lower against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, after minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's recent meeting showed that further interest rate cuts would be appropriate in the coming months to help boost economy.

Policymakers of Reserve Bank of Australia suggested that it was more likely than not that a further easing in monetary policy would be appropriate in the period ahead, according to the minutes from the central bank's monetary policy meeting held on June 4.

Members said developments in the labor market would be particularly important, in assessing whether more easing was appropriate.

However, members observed that lowering the interest rate was not the only policy option available to help reducing the jobless rate.

At the meeting, members further observed that a lower level of interest rates would stimulate activity and thereby improve the resilience of the Australian economy to any future adverse shocks.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Australia's house price index declined in the first quarter of 2019.

House prices in Australia were down 3.0 percent sequentially in the March quarter. That exceeded expectations for a decline of 2.6 percent.

The aussie fell to a 5-1/2-month low of 0.6833 against the greenback and held steady thereafter. The pair was worth 0.6853 at Monday's close. The aussie is seen finding support around the 0.66 level.

The Australian unit weakened to 73.99 against the Japanese currency, its lowest since January 3, and held steady in subsequent deals. At yesterday's close, the pair was valued at 74.38. If the aussie falls further, 72.00 is likely seen as its next possible support level.

The aussie that ended yesterday's trading at 1.6370 against the euro slipped to a 5-1/2-month low of 1.6435 at 1:00 am ET. On the downside, 1.67 is possibly seen as the next support level for the aussie.

The aussie declined to a 7-month low of 0.9161 against the loonie at 11:55 pm ET and traded steadily since then. The next possible support for the aussie is seen around the 0.90 level.

The Australian currency dipped to a 4-day low of 1.0523 against the NZ dollar and held steady afterwards. Should the aussie falls further, 1.04 may be seen as its next support level.

Survey data from Westpac showed that New Zealand's consumer sentiment weakened slightly in the second quarter as households remained downbeat about the economic backdrop.

The Westpac McDermott Miller consumer confidence index dropped 0.3 points to 103.5 in June.

Looking ahead, German ZEW economic sentiment index for June, Eurozone trade data for April and consumer inflation for May are due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. housing starts and building permits for May, as well as Canada manufacturing sales for April are set for release.