Australian Dollar Rises As RBA Keeps Rates In Hold

The Australian dollar strengthened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Tuesday, following the announcement of the Reserve Bank of Australia to leave its cash rate unchanged at its March meeting.

The monetary policy board maintained the cash rate at 2.25 percent after lowering the rate by 25 basis points last month. The bank was widely expected to cut its rate by another quarter point today.

The Australian dollar rose to 1.4230 against the euro for the first time since January 28. At yesterday's close, the pair was trading at 1.4398.

Moving away from an early 1-week low of 0.7750 against the U.S. dollar and a 4-day low of 92.97 against the yen, the aussie advanced to 5-day highs of 0.7839 and 93.80, respectively. The aussie closed yesterday's deals at 0.7765 against the greenback and 93.28 against the yen.

Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the aussie rose to 5-day highs of 1.0398 and 0.9810 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0336 and 0.9731, respectively.

If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.38 against the euro, 0.80 against the greenback, 96.50 against the yen, 1.06 against the kiwi and 1.00 against the loonie.