AUD/USD looking for a foothold after losing 0.77

The AUD/USD is drifting upwards in a quiet Asia session, testing near 0.7690, after dropping lower in rough action on Tuesday.

The Aussie continues to be punished by low rates with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) widely expected to stand pat on rates well into 2019. With the US Fed's rate hike all but priced in for Wednesday, that divergence of policy is going to hammer the AUD, as rising interest rates in the US take the Greenback higher against the antipodean Aussie.

Housing figures and other economic indicators are still positive for Australia, but macro data continues to fail to meet expectations and frequently trail behind previous figures. The Australian seasonally adjusted Unemployment Rate is due early on Thursday at 01:30 GMT, and market analysts expect the figure to come in at 5.5%, treading water with the previous reading of 5.5%. Aussie unemployment hits the markets after the Fed strikes a chord with their anticipated rate increase on Wednesday at 18:00 GMT, so the market impact of the Aussie unemployment rate could be muted.

AUD/USD Technicals

As FXStreet's own Valeria Bednarik noted recently, "The pair is down for a fourth consecutive day and seems that the decline could continue, as it continues sliding below the 61.8% retracement of the December/January rally. In the 4 hours chart, the price is well below a bearish 20 SMA, currently at around 0.7720, while in the same chart, the Momentum aims higher below its 100 level as the RSI holds flat around 30. The pair has scope to extend its decline down to 0.7500, where it bottomed last December, as long as it remains below 0.7740, the mentioned Fibonacci level."