AUD/USD bounces off lows, but lacks any strong follow-through

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• Dismal Chinese data over the weekend exerts some pressure on Monday.
• A subdued USD demand extends some support and helped limit downside.
• Focus now shifts to important US macro data for a fresh directional impetus.

The AUD/USD pair managed to recover around 20-pips from Asian session lows and is currently placed at the top end of its daily trading range, just below mid-0.7000s.

The pair failed to capitalize on Friday's goodish bounce from over two-month lows, supported by mixed US monthly jobs report (NFP), and opened with a modest bearish gap at the start of a new trading week on the back of another disappointment from Chinese macro releases.

Chinese data released over the weekend showed that producer price inflation (PPI) held steady at 0.1% y/y rate and the headline CPI eased to 1.5% in February, which turned out to be one of the key factors exerting some downward pressure on the China-proxy Australian Dollar.

Despite the negative factor, the downside remained cushioned amid a subdued US Dollar price action, which remained on the defensive in wake of Friday's disappointing jobs data that showed that the US economy added only 20K new jobs in February as compared to 180K expected.

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to gain any meaningful traction or continues with its lacklustre trading action as market participants now look forward to today's important release of the US monthly retail sales data for some meaningful impetus.

This coupled with other key US macro data - the latest US consumer inflation figures on Tuesday and durable goods orders data on Wednesday will now play an important role in determining the pair's next leg of a directional move.

Technical levels to watch

AUD/USD

Overview:
    Today Last Price: 0.7042
    Today Daily change: -2 pips
    Today Daily change %: -0.03%
    Today Daily Open: 0.7044
Trends:
    Daily SMA20: 0.7106
    Daily SMA50: 0.7133
    Daily SMA100: 0.7161
    Daily SMA200: 0.724
Levels:
    Previous Daily High: 0.7053
    Previous Daily Low: 0.7002
    Previous Weekly High: 0.7118
    Previous Weekly Low: 0.7002
    Previous Monthly High: 0.7285
    Previous Monthly Low: 0.7053
    Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 0.7034
    Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 0.7021
    Daily Pivot Point S1: 0.7013
    Daily Pivot Point S2: 0.6982
    Daily Pivot Point S3: 0.6962
    Daily Pivot Point R1: 0.7064
    Daily Pivot Point R2: 0.7084
    Daily Pivot Point R3: 0.7115

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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