By | July 18 2012 8:39 PM

The Aussie dollar maintained its north-bound trajectory overnight with strength from both European and U.S equity markets providing a solid backdrop for currencies of higher-yield. European equities set the pace earlier in the session and U.S markets were able to maintain the gains, driven by better-than-expected earnings from tech heavyweights Intel and Honeywell. A jump in housing starts also proved to be positive for sentiment while Fed Chief Ben Bernanke kept the dream of U.S stimulus alive without providing any explicit detail. Bernanke took a similar line to Tuesday’s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, reiterating, the Fed will “take action as needed to try to make sure that we see continued progress on employment.