AUD/USD: High-octane Friday to bed down a sideways week for the Aussie

The Aussie is resting at the top end of the week's range ahead of Friday's key reading of China trade data.
The US Dollar is seeing broad-market sell-off, and the AUD/USD could see a jump into fresh highs as long as Aussie traders keep the wheels on.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The AUD/USD is trading back near the week's highs at 0.7125, stuck within the current range between 0.7130 and 0.7050.

Friday sees the Aussie get a volatility boost from both home and abroad, with Home Loans data for August dropping early at 00:30 GMT, followed by China Trade Balance data without an exact release time.

Australian Home Loans in August are expected to contract from 0.4% to -0.9% with traders keeping an eye on Investment Lending for Homes for the same month, which last clocked in at a shrinking -1.3%, and continued stormy clouds from Australian housing figures could see the AUD primed for a drop on China trade figures.

China's Trade Balance numbers are likely to drop somewhere between 02:30 and 03:30 GMT, and China's Trade Balance in USD terms is expect to decline from the previous period's 27.89 billion to 19.40 billion, with annualized Imports and Exports for September both expected to decline, with Imports forecast at 15% (previous 19.9%) and Exports expected at 8.9% (previous 9.8%), and Australia's largest trading partner can expect to continue enjoying added emphasis on their knock-on effects on the Aussie.

AUD/USD levels to watch

According to FXstreet' Valeria Bednarik, the Aussie could be primed to further enjoy some softness from the Greenback: "(the) Dollar's weakness is set to persist, favoring another leg higher for the AUD/USD pair, which now trades around the 38.2% retracement of its latest daily slide. In the 4 hours chart, the 20 SMA has extended its advance below the current level, now converging with the 23.6% retracement of the mentioned slide, while technical indicators maintain their strong upward slopes, nearing weekly highs. Furthermore, the pair seems to be developing a double bottom at 0.7040 with the neckline of the figure being this week high of 0.7130. Nevertheless, a firmer recovery would be likely on a break above 0.7140, the 50% retracement of the same decline."

Support levels: 0.7085 0.7040 0.7010

Resistance levels: 0.7140 0.7175 0.7200

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

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