AUD/USD: poised for a bullish breakout

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

AUD/USD Current price: 0.7896

Australian Consumer Confidence improved, Chinese data also helped.
AUD/USD struggles with major Fibonacci resistance around 0.7890.

The Aussie is among the best performers this Wednesday, pressuring the 0.7890 region against the greenback. Chinese data released overnight was mixed, with Retail Sales growing below market's expectations in January, up 9.7% vs. market's forecast of 9.8%, although above the previous 9.4%. Industrial Production, on the other hand, grew 7.2 % YoY, the fastest pace of growth since June 2017, while urban fixed-asset investment, rose 7.9%, beating market's expectations. Australian consumer sentiment, according to Westpac, improved modestly in March, up to 0.2% from a previous -2.3%. Despite Asian shares stay in the red, European ones trade positively, keeping the pair near its daily highs ahead of the release of US Retail Sales.

Technically, the short-term picture is positive for the pair, given that in the 4 hours chart the pair met buying interest around a bullish 20 SMA, while the RSI indicator aims north, currently around 64. The Momentum, however, lags, pretty much neutral, as the pair remains below its previous weekly high, and unable to surpass a key Fibonacci resistance, the 38.2% retracement of the December/January rally. The pair would need now to break above the 0.7900 figure with some strong momentum, with scope then to advance up to 0.7980, the next Fibonacci resistance and where the pair topped mid-February.

Support levels: 0.7860 0.7820 0.7770

Resistance levels: 0.7900 0.7940 0.7980

View Live Chart for the AUD/USD

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.

EUR/USD off highs, back to around 1.1900

EUR/USD keeps its strong bid bias in place despite recedeing to the 1.1900 zone following earlier peaks north of 1.1900 the figure on Monday. The US Dollar remains under pressure, as traders stay on the sidelines ahead of Wednesday’s key January jobs report, leaving the pair room to extend its upward trend for now.

GBP/USD hits three-day peaks, targets 1.3700

GBP/USD is clocking decent gains at the start of the week, advancing to three-day highs near 1.3670 and building on Friday’s solid performance. The better tone in the British Pound comes on the back of the intense sekk-off in the Greenback and despite re-emerging signs of a fresh government crisis in the UK.

Gold picks up pace, retargets $5,100

Gold gathers fresh steam, challenging daily highs en route to the $5,100 mark per troy ounce in the latter part of Monday’s session. The precious metal finds support from fresh signs of continued buying by the PBoC, while expectations that the Fed could lean more dovish also collaborate with the uptick.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin steadies around $70,000, Ethereum and XRP remain under pressure

Bitcoin hovers around $70,000, up near 15% from last week's low of $60,000 despite low retail demand. Ethereum delicately holds $2,000 support as weak technicals weigh amid declining futures Open Interest. XRP seeks support above $1.40 after facing rejection at $1.54 during the previous week's sharp rebound.

Japanese PM Takaichi nabs unprecedented victory – US data eyed this week

I do not think I would be exaggerating to say that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s snap general election gamble paid off over the weekend – and then some. This secured the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) an unprecedented mandate just three months into her tenure.

Ripple exposed to volatility amid low retail interest, modest fund inflows

Ripple (XRP) is extending its intraday decline to around $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid growing pressure from the retail market and risk-off sentiment that continues to keep investors on the sidelines.