AUD/USD halts disappointing GDP-led slide

Disappointing GDP print led selling pressure around the Australian Dollar seems to have halted for the time being, with the AUD/USD pair recovering nearly 20-pips from session lows. 

Currently trading around 0.7435 region, market seems to have digested an awfully weak Australian quarterly GDP print that showed 0.5% q-o-q contraction in the third quarter of 2016, marking its first contraction in 5 years. Further selling pressure, however, was limited as the reading was in-line with the outlook set by RBA, at its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday, that the economy could possibly witness a slowdown before picking-up again. 

Meanwhile, a range-bound greenback price action extended further support as investors seemed reluctant to initiate fresh positions ahead of influential central bank monetary policy decisions, especially FOMC meeting on December 13-14, which would help investors determine the next leg of directional move for the US Dollar.

In absence of any major market moving releases from the US, the pair would remain dependent on the USD price-dynamics and broader market risk sentiment, which derives demand for riskier / higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie.

Technical levels to watch

From current levels, 0.7415-10 region (weekly lows) remains immediate support to defend below which the pair is likely to break through 0.7400 handle and head towards testing 0.7380 horizontal support. On the upside, any recovery attempts back above 0.7450 level might continue to confront strong resistance near 0.7490 region, which if cleared is likely to boost the pair towards the very important 200-day SMA resistance near 0.7530 region.