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
Author
Valeria Bednarik
FXStreet
Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.
