AUD/USD clocks fresh 2-year high on hawkish RBA minutes & US health care debacle

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

The demise of the US health care bill triggered a wave of selling in the USD, which pushed AUD/USD to a session high of 0.7841 levels (highest since June 2015).

The hawkish RBA minutes only added fuel to the fire. However, to a certain extent, the minutes are being dwarfed by the health care story, which is moving the FX markets as of now.

Aussie bond yields drop

The minutes may sound hawkish, although the Aussie bond yields are not impressed. The 10-year yield is down close to two basis points at 2.714%. Meanwhile, its counterpart is relatively strong, down less than one basis point at 2.3%.

Nevertheless, concerns that Trump would have a hard time pushing through the tax/fiscal reforms are forcing investors to move out of the US dollar.

AUD/USD Technical Levels

An end of the day close above 0.7831 (23.6% Fib R of 2011 high - 2016 low) would open door for a more sustainable rally towards 0.7938 (Mar 2015 high) and 0.80 (zero levels). On the downside, failure to hold above 0.78 (zero levels) could yield a pullback to 0.7773 (5-DMA) and 0.7740 (July 13 high).

	TREND INDEX	OB/OS INDEX	VOLATILY INDEX
15M	Bullish	Overbought	High
1H	Bearish	Oversold	High
4H	Bearish	Neutral	Low
1D	Bearish	Overbought	High
1W	Bullish	Overbought	Expanding
Updated Jul 18, 01:45 GMT

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Changing the game: International implications of recent tariff developments

The Supreme Court ruling on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs provides limited relief for the rest of the world, with weighted average tariff rates modestly lower.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.