AUD/USD hits fresh session high on above-forecast China Caixin Manufacturing PMI

China Caixin manufacturing PMI for March bettered estimates, sending AUD/USD higher by seven pips to a fresh session high of 0.7127.
The currency pair could rise further, tracking the risk-on in the equities.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

AUD/USD hit a fresh session high of 0.7127 a few minutes ago, possibly in response to better-than-expected China data.

Caixin manufacturing PMI, which surveys the small and medium-sized export-oriented units, ticked higher to 50.8 in March, beating the expected reading of 49.9 by a big margin.

The return to expansionary territory (50) may alleviate concerns of a deeper slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. So far, however, the AUD is struggling to cheer the upbeat data. The seven-pip rise to fresh session highs seen post-PMI has been erased. As of writing, the pair is trading at 0.7121.

However, equities are flashing green - the futures on the S&P 500 are currently up 0.65 percent. Hence, the AUD could continue to grind higher during the day ahead, more so, as China's NBS PMI numbers, released over the weekend, also bettered estimates.

Further, TD securities' inflation gauge for March came in at 0.4 percent month-on-month earlier today vs 0.1 percent in February. The National Australia Bank's business conditions index for March also ticked higher to 7, beating the estimated drop to 2 by a big margin.

Technical Levels

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.7122
Today Daily Change	0.0025
Today Daily Change %	0.35
Today daily open	0.7097

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.7083
Daily SMA50	0.7121
Daily SMA100	0.7152
Daily SMA200	0.7208

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.7105
Previous Daily Low	0.7072
Previous Weekly High	0.7149
Previous Weekly Low	0.7063
Previous Monthly High	0.7168
Previous Monthly Low	0.7002
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.7092
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.7085
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.7077
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.7058
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.7044
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.711
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.7124
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.7143

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

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

GBP/USD extends recovery, trades above 1.3200

GBP/USD holds on to modest gains above 1.3200 on Friday, building on gains seen in the previous day. Still, Cable struggles to build on its recovery as cautious market sentiment keeps investors focused on the US-Iran conflict and ongoing volatility in global technology stocks.

EUR/USD pops to daily highs near 1.1420

EUR/USD extends Thursday's recovery and climbs past the 1.1400 yardstick at the end of the week. The pair’s recovery comes as the US Dollar remains on the back foot, while investors continue to monitor developments in the Middle East and sentiment surrounding global technology stocks.

Gold advances to two-day highs, targets $4,100

Gold trades in a tight range above $4,000 per troy ounce on Friday, adding to the recent recovery. The precious metal, however, finds it difficult to attract fresh buyers as expectations for a hawkish Fed continue to strengthen.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin at $60,000, Ethereum at $1,500, and XRP at $1 face a make-or-break test

Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP) are trading in the red on Friday after three consecutive days of losses, testing their respective make-or-break support levels.

The Mag 7 trade is ending – The AI cash-flow divorce is just beginning

The AI boom is not weakening. The market is simply becoming less willing to reward companies for writing ever-larger infrastructure cheques without a clearer cash-return timetable. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta are becoming the financing arm of the AI cycle, while chips, memory, networking and power infrastructure increasingly look like the early cash beneficiaries.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.