Investing.com - The Australian dollar rose modestly against its U.S. rival during Monday's Asian session as traders await Australian inflation data due out later this week.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD climbed 0.07% to 1.0519 after losing 0.21% last week. The pair is likely to find support at 1.0484, Friday's low and resistance at 1.0575, Thursday's high.
AUD/USD languished last week on the heels of some slack Australian employment data. Official data showed that the Australian economy cut 5,500 jobs in December, disappointing expectations for a 4,500 rise, after a 17,100 increase the previous month.
Australia's unemployment rate ticked up to 5.4% last month from 5.3% in November, in line with expectations.
The Aussie dollar will be in focus leading up to Wednesday's inflation report. Economists are expecting a 0.7% increase in fourth-quarter core consumer prices, but a reading of 0.6% or lower could trigger added speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia could initiate at another interest rate following its next meeting.
RBA's benchmark interest rate is currently 3%. Australia's central bank is scheduled to hold its next meeting on February 5th.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY plunged 0.48% to 94.23 after Koichi Hamada, who is helping Prime Minister Abe select a new Bank of Japan governor, said Japan must guard against allowing the yen to depreciate too quickly against other major currencies.
The Bank of Japan started a two-day meeting today and traders are saying that if the central bank disappoints on the monetary easing front, the yen could catch a bid at the expense of riskier currencies such as the Aussie dollar.
Meanwhile, EUR/AUD slipped 0.05% to 1.2664 while GBP/AUD fell 0.16% to 1.5084. NZD/USD dropped 0.06% to 0.8358. The pair is likely to find support at 0.8325, Thursday's low and resistance at 0.8425, Thursday's high.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.