The Australian dollar rose on Tuesday as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate at a record low 2.0 percent, where it has been since the last cut in May.
In a brief statement that almost totally repeated the September note, the RBA said it would look to upcoming data to judge if the current policy setting needed to be adjusted.
"The global economy is expanding at a moderate pace, with some further softening in conditions in China and east Asia of late, but stronger US growth. Key commodity prices are much lower than a year ago, in part reflecting increased supply, including from Australia," Governor Glenn Stevens said in a statement.
"Australia's terms of trade are falling."
Earlier, data showed that Australia's trade deficit came in at a deficit of A$3.1 billion in August - wider than the A$2.55 billion expected on a lower-than-expected rise in exports of non-rural-goods and the less-than-expected unwinding of increases in gold exports seen in July.
The decrease was partly driven by weakness in export values, a feature that is likely to persist as long as commodity prices stay under pressure.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7121, up 0.52%, while USD/JPY changed hands at 120.29, down 0.15%.
Overnight, the greenback trimmed losses against the other major currencies on Monday, but remained pressured as downbeat U.S. service sector data further undermined hopes for the first U.S. rate hike in 9 years in the nearest future.
