Investing.com - The Australian dollar dropped against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, re-approaching a nearly six-year trough after the release of weak Australian consumer sentiment data and as global concerns persisted.
AUD/USD hit 0.6847 during late Asian trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.6850, declining 0.85%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.6823, the low of January 15 and a nearly six-year low and resistance at 0.6962, Tuesday’s high.
The Westpac Banking Corporation reported on Wednesday that consumer sentiment in Australia dropped by 3.5% in January, after a 0.8% fall the previous month.
Meanwhile, markets were still jittery after data on Tuesday showed that the annual rate of growth in China slowed to 6.8% in the three months to December from 6.9% in the previous quarter, matching forecasts.
The data indicated that the world’s second-largest economy is continuing to lose momentum, after falls in the nation’s currency earlier this year fueled fears over a China-led slowdown in global growth.
Investors were also cautious as oil prices dropped once again below $30 per barrel on Tuesday to the lowest level in 12 years after the International Energy Agency said that unseasonably warm weather and rising supply will keep the oil market oversupplied until at least late 2016.
The Aussie was sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD jumping 1.27% to 1.5987.