AUD/USD pierces 0.7800 as US President Biden lauds covid efforts, promises faster recovery

AUD/USD refreshes one week top during the four-day winning streak.
Biden eyes vaccine for all American by May 01, back to normal before July.
Vaccine news battle US-China and Canberra-Beijing tussle but nothing could beat risks after US stimulus.
US data will be eyed, risk catalysts remain on the driver’s seat.

Anil Panchal FXStreet

AUD/USD takes the bids near 0.7800, currently up 0.10% intraday, during the early Friday. The aussie pair recently benefited from US President Joe Biden’s prime-time speech while the early Asian risk catalyst and the US $1.9 trillion covid stimulus offered the initial favor to the quote in rising for the fourth consecutive day.

US President Joe Biden showed readiness to recover faster from the pandemic and promised vaccines to all the American adults by May 01. His extra optimism also pushed the Democratic Party member to hint “back to normal” life by July. However, concerns surrounding employment status seem to dim the market’s reaction to the key event.

Read: US President Biden: Stimulus to fuel faster US recovery; jobs outlook still dull

Other than the speech, official updates from the Novavax, concerning capacity to tame the UK covid variants, joined US President Biden’s signals to shore up ties with allies in Asia also favored the mood. It should be noted that market rumors surrounding the $2.5 trillion US infrastructure plan in April also helped the AUD/USD bulls.

On the contrary, the US hardships for Huawei suppliers and Australia’s dislike for the human rights violations in Hong Kong probe the risk-takers. Also on the negative side could be AstraZeneca’s inability to meet targets for the EU vaccine delivery.

Amid these plays, stocks in Asia-Pacific stay bid whereas S&P 500 Futures and the US 10-year Treasury yields print mild gains by the press time.

Looking forward, a light calendar directs AUD/USD traders to keep eyes on the US Michigan Consumer Sentiment figures for March, expected 78.5 versus 76.8 prior, for fresh impulse. However, risk catalysts remain as the key drivers.

Read: US Michigan Consumer Sentiment March Preview: The post-COVID blues

Technical analysis

Having successfully regained past-50-day SMA, currently around 0.7740, January’s top near 0.7820 and the monthly peak surrounding 0.7840 will test the AUD/USD upside.

Additional important levels

Overview
Today last price	0.7799
Today Daily Change	7 pips
Today Daily Change %	0.09%
Today daily open	0.7792

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.7786
Daily SMA50	0.774
Daily SMA100	0.7557
Daily SMA200	0.7331

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.7795
Previous Daily Low	0.7722
Previous Weekly High	0.7838
Previous Weekly Low	0.7622
Previous Monthly High	0.8008
Previous Monthly Low	0.7562
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.7767
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.775
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.7744
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.7697
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.7672
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.7817
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.7842
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.7889

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

AUD/USD sticks to neutral bias above 0.7100 amid cautious markets

AUD/USD holds steady above 0.7100 in the Asian session on Monday as the US Dollar stalls its modest pullback from the highest level since late July amid persistent geopolitical uncertainties. The PBOC status quo on Loan Prime Rates also weighs on the Aussie. However, bets on another RBA rate hike continue to underpin the Australian Dollar ahead of the Trump-Xi Summit.

USD/JPY eases below 157.00 amid looming intervention risks

USD/JPY is easing back below 157.00 in Asia on Monday, undermined by modest Japanese Yen strength amid looming intervention risks after Friday's BoJ rate check. A Japanese holiday also keeps traders on edge amid escalating geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East. As a result, the US Dollar pauses its pullback, limiting the pair's downside.

Gold meets resistance around $4,400

Gold kicks in the new trading with on the back foot, keeping its trade near $4,350 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s correction comes on the back of the firmer US Dollar and espite declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Bitcoin hits $85,000 for the first time in eight months

Bitcoin price reclaims $85,000 on Monday, advancing last week’s 5% recovery toward an eight-month high. The recovery in King Crypto aligns with renewed institutional demand, with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) recording $433 million in inflows on Friday.

The week ahead: Fuel prices in focus as we lead up to key eco releases

Financial markets are in a strange position as we move to the final weeks of Q3, uncertainty and volatility continue to grip markets, but the oil price is falling; and European and US stocks are poised to open higher later on Monday. Market stresses are concentrated in sovereign bonds, and European and US yields had another scare late on Friday, and moved higher.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.