AUD/USD: risk aversion returns by the hand of Brexit, Fed eyed

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

AUD/USD Current price: 0.7254

Busy day starting with increasing fears of a no-deal Brexit and China announcing a reduction of import tariffs.
AUD holding ground but increasingly bearish, following the lead of equities and commodities.

The AUD/USD pair surged to 0.7282 during Asian trading hours, as dollar's weakness dominated the session, but quickly retreated from such high to comfortably consolidate around the current 0.7250 region. There were no macroeconomic releases in Australia, but better bid base metals helped the pair advance. Some additional support for the Aussie came from NZ trade balance figures, as imports in the country rose above expected.

The American dollar is strengthening across the board on comments from EU Barnier regarding Brexit, as he said that they are working to respect UK integrity, but also EU one. A strong message for UK PM May and a sign that a deal is nowhere close. Furthermore, Barnier said they are stepping up discussion on a no-deal plan.

The pair is holding ground despite resurgent dollar's demand, as European indexes remain afloat. Base metals, however, are losing ground, leaning the scale to the downside for the commodity-linked currency. In the meantime, China announced it will cut import tariffs for some products, to lower costs of consumers and companies. And the Fed will announce the result of its monetary policy meeting later today. Busy, busy day just kicking off.

The AUD/USD pair is stuck around the 61.8% retracement of its latest daily decline, offering a neutral-to-negative stance, according to technical readings in the 4 hours chart, as technical indicators remain directionless below their midlines, while the pair failed to sustain gains above a mild-bearish 20 SMA, but holds above the 200 SMA. The main support from here continues to be the 0.7220 region, the 50% retracement of the mentioned decline, while a steeper recovery is likely on an acceleration through 0.7300.

Support levels: 0.7220 0.7190 0.7155

Resistance levels: 0.7300 0.7335 0.7370

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.

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