AUD/USD weakens farther below 0.6900 handle, fresh 3-week lows
|- Friday's US macro data weakens the case for an immediate Fed rate cut move.
- The USD picks up the pace in tandem with a turnaround in the US bond yields.
- Trump's not so optimistic comments do little to stall the ongoing bearish slide.
The AUD/USD pair finally broke down of its European session consolidative range and dropped to fresh three-week lows, farther below the 0.6900 handle post-US retail sales data.
The intraday US Dollar positive move picked up the pace in the last hour following the release of mostly stronger-than-expected US monthly retail sales figures - ex-autos and control group. Adding to this, big upward revisions of the previous month's readings weakened the case for an immediate Fed rate cut move.
This was evident from a sharp intraday turnaround in the US Treasury bond yields, which eventually provided a goodish lift to the greenback and turned out to be one of the key factors behind the pair's latest leg of a downtick to daily lows around the 0.6685-80 region - the lowest since May 24 and back closer to multi-month lows.
Meanwhile, the US President Donald Trump's not so optimistic comments during an interview on Fox News, saying that China is manipulating its currency, further dented the already weaker sentiment surrounding the China-proxy Australian Dollar. Trump further added that the Fed has set rates too high, albeit did little to ease the bearish pressure or lend any support.
The pair now seems all set to end the week on a downbeat note, recording heavy losses and hence, a follow-through weakness, led by some technical selling below May monthly swing lows support near the 0.6865 region, now looks a distinct possibility as the focus now shifts to next week's FOMC policy meeting.
Technical levels to watch
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