AUD/USD Analysis: range trading continues but bearish pressure mounts
|AUD/USD Current price: 0.7158
- Aussie weaker in range after Chinese growth continued indicating decelerating growth.
- AUD/USD bearish case firmer on a break below 0.7130 a dynamic support.
The AUD/USD pair barely held above its recent lows, having spent the first trading day of the week hovering around a major Fibonacci level, the 61.8% retracement of the December/January slump. The pair broke lost upward momentum after breaking above it earlier this month, struggling for direction for over two weeks now. The pair posted a lower low daily basis at 0.7140, weighed by poor Australian data, as New Home Sales fell by 6.7% in December according to the HIA, following a 3.6% advance in November, and Chinese figures. According to the official release, China's Q4 GDP printed 6.4% as expected, the lowest quarterly growth since 2008, while through 2018, the country grew 6.6%, the slowest pace in almost three decades. On a brighter note, while Industrial Production rose 5.7% YoY and Retail Sales by 8.2% in December. There are no macroeconomic releases scheduled in Australia for this Tuesday.
The AUD/USD pair hovers around the mentioned Fibonacci retracement ahead of the Asian opening, limited to the upside by a mildly bearish 20 SMA in the 4 hours chart, and still above a bullish 100 SMA, this last around 0.7130. The fact that moving averages are confined to a 50 pips' range indicates the absence of directional strength, as well as technical indicators, which continue lacking strength, the Momentum around its midline and the RSI steady around 42. A clearer bearish movement should be expected on a break below 0.7130, the mentioned 100 SMA.
Support levels: 0.7130 0.7105 0.7070
Resistance levels: 0.7180 0.7210 0.7250
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