AUD/USD hangs near 4-month lows, below 0.70 mark ahead of the key US jobs report

   •  The USD steadily builds on the post-FOMC recovery and keeps exerting some pressure.
   •  Disappointing Aussie housing market data adds to the ongoing downward momentum.
   •  Traders now seemed reluctant to place aggressive bets ahead of the US jobs report.

The AUD/USD pair now seems to have entered a bearish consolidation phase and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading band near four-month lows.

The pair extended this week's retracement slide from levels just above mid-0.7000s and remained on the defensive for the fourth consecutive session. The downward momentum picked up some pace and dragged the pair back below the key 0.70 psychological mark in response to a weaker-than-expected Aussie housing market data.

In fact, Australia's Building Permits fell sharply by 15.5% m/m in March, reversing a major part of 19.1% gains recorded in February and worse than consensus estimates pointing to a 14% drop. This marked a 27.3% drop on a yearly basis and exerted some downward pressure on the Australian Dollar.

The slide, however, seemed limited as investors now seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bet and preferred to wait on the sideline ahead of today's important release of the closely watched US monthly jobs report - popularly known as NFP, due later during the early North-American session.

This followed by scheduled speeches by a slew of influential FOMC members might influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities on the last trading day of the week and ahead of next week's RBA monetary policy update, where the central bank is expected to cut interest rates.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the 0.6980 level, below which the pair is likely to accelerate the fall towards the 0.6935 region en-route the 0.6900 round figure mark. On the flip side, any meaningful recovery attempt might now confront some fresh supply near the 0.7010-15 region, above which a bout of short-covering could lift the pair further towards weekly highs resistance near the 0.7070 region.