AUD/USD dips below 0.6900 as investors gear up for RBA rate call
|- US Dollar Index is closing in on 97.50 on Monday.
- Factory Orders in the US fell 0.6% in September.
- The RBA is expected to keep its policy rate unchanged at 0.75%.
The AUD/USD pair lost its traction after edging higher during the Asian trading hours and dropped below the 0.69 mark in the American session pressured by the broad-based USD strength. As of writing, the pair was down 0.25% on the day at 0.6896.
Earlier in the day, comments from US officials hinting that the US and China are close to finalizing the phase-one of the trade deal helped the antipodeans remain resilient against the Greenback. However, with the US Dollar Index pushing higher in the second half of the day, the pair came under renewed bearish pressure.
In the absence of significant fundamental drivers on Monday, the US Dollar Index made a decisive technical recovery and was last up 0.35% on the day at 97.45. Additionally, a more-than-3% increase in the 10-year US T-bond yield seems to be providing an additional boost to the USD as well. Today's data from the US revealed that Factory Orders declined 0.6% in September but this reading didn't have a negative impact on the currency.
Eyes on RBA
On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is set to announce its policy rate and publish the policy statement. The latest Reuters poll showed that majority ox experts see the RBA leaving its policy rate steady at 0.75%. "As many as 25 of 36, or nearly 70%, forecast rates at 0.5% by early 2020 with four predicting deeper cuts to 0.25%," Reuters further reported.
Participants will be looking for clues in the policy statement regarding the possibility of the bank cutting its policy rate one more time in 2019.
Technical levels to consider
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