Australian Dollar Trades Lower Amid Vaccine Trial Halt

The Australian dollar dropped against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Tuesday, as investors became cautious after Johnson & Johnson had temporarily ceased its Covid-19 vaccine trial due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.

The online enrollment system has been closed and an independent patient safety committee is convened to review the participant's illness, the company said in a statement.

Third-quarter earnings season kicked off this week, with JPMorgan and Citigroup announcing results later today.

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley will unveil their quarterly earnings later this week.

U.S.-China tensions also remain on investors' focus amid reports that the Trump administration plans to sell three advanced weapons systems to Taiwan, which is seen by China as a breakaway province.

The aussie fell to a 4-day low of 0.7165 against the greenback and a 5-day low of 1.6460 against the euro, from its prior highs of 0.7211 and 1.6367, respectively. The aussie is poised to challenge support around 0.70 against the greenback and 1.70 against the euro.

Reversing from its early highs of 75.95 against the yen and 1.0852 against the kiwi, the aussie dropped to 6-day lows of 75.46 and 1.0792, respectively. The aussie is seen finding support around 74.00 against the yen and 1.06 against the kiwi.

The aussie depreciated to a fresh 2-week low of 0.9416 against the loonie, after rising to 0.9454 at 7:00 pm ET. If the aussie falls further, it is likely to test support around the 0.92 region.

Looking ahead, German ZEW economic sentiment index for October is due in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. CPI for September is scheduled for release.