Forex - AUD/USD dips on weak pricing data

Forexpros - The Australian dollar fell against its U.S. counterpart on Monday after government data showed producer prices for the fourth quarter climbed by 0.3%, weaker than market forecasts for a 0.4% gain.

AUD/USD hit 1.0469 in Asian trading on Monday, down 0.16% and up from a session low of 1.0459 and off from a high of 1.0494.

The pair was likely to find support 1.0384, Friday's low, and resistance at 1.0494, the earlier session high.

Weak producer price data didn't seriously bruise the currency, as hopes for a stronger U.S. recovery may prompt demand for riskier assets like the Aussie dollar to quickly return.

"Any positive economic outcomes in the U.S. would represent a continuation of the trend in recent weeks and months, and that would certainly be beneficial for risky currencies," such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, said Andrew Salter, a strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Sydney, according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, the Aussie dollar was down against its New Zealand counterpart and down against the yen, with AUD/NZD dipping 0.09% and trading at 1.2992 and AUD/JPY falling 0.15% to 80.63.

Later Monday, the Conference Board in Australia will release its leading index, which will shed further light on the health of the economy.

The U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meets Wednesday, and even if the monetary policy body doesn't change interest rates, talk ahead of the meeting regarding possible accommodative policies such as a third round of quantitative easing could weaken the dollar and send other currencies rising.

European consumer confidence numbers come out on Monday, while the Bank of Japan will tentatively hold a monetary policy meeting as well.

Later Monday, Canada is to publish its index of leading economic indicators, a good weather vane for the economy over the coming months.