Investing.com - The Australian dollar held steady against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, after the release of upbeat economic reports from Australia and China and as Friday's downbeat U.S. data continued to weigh on the greenback.
AUD/USD hit 0.7149 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7138.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.7063, Friday's low and resistance at 0.7207, the high of October 28.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday that building approvals increased by 2.2% in September, beating expectations for a 2.0% gain. Building approvals declined 9.5% in August, whose figure was revised from a previously estimated 6.9% drop.
Also Monday, data showed that China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 48.3 in October from 47.2 the previous month, beating expectations for an uptick 47.5.
China is Australia's biggest export partner.
Meanwhile, the greenback remained under pressure after the University of Michigan said on Friday that its consumer sentiment index fell to 90.0 this month from 92.1 in September, compared to expectations for a rise to 92.5.
In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis said that personal spending rose 0.1% last month, disappointing expectations for a 0.2% rise and after a 0.4% increase in August.
The data added to concerns over the strength of the economy after the Commerce Department said last Thursday that U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 1.5% in the three months to September, missing expectations for growth of 1.6%.
The Aussie was lower against the euro, with EUR/AUD rising 0.25% to 1.5460.