AUD/USD retreats after being unable to break 0.7280/85

AUD/USD holds upside bias, although capped by 0.7280/85.
US data: ADP report comes above expectations.
Fed’s Powell: Fed prepared to raise rates in March, economic outlook uncertain.

Matías Salord FXStreet

The AUD/USD is rising modestly on Wednesday on the back of a recovery in risk sentiment and amid higher commodity prices. The pair peaked at 0.7281 and then pulled back to 0.7265. It is moving sideways, holding onto recent gains.

In Wall Street, the main indices are rising 0.65% on average. The US dollar is mixed. It gained some momentum after the ADP report for February that came in above expectations. US yields are higher, helping the greenback. Fed’s Powell is about to testify before Congress. In his initial remarks, he mentioned that the Fed is ready to raise rates in March.

Earlier on Wednesday, Australia's growth data showed GDP rose at a 3.4% rate during the fourth quarter, above expectations, and recovered after a Q3 contraction. “Australia is decidedly moving on from the COVID crisis. With c.80% of the population fully vaccinated, reopening of the economy now appears more sustainable. We upgrade our 2022 GDP growth forecast to 4% from 3.7% given the strong recovery”, mentioned analysts at Standard Chartered. On Thursday, data to be released in Australia includes the Commonwealth Bank PMI, Building Permits and trade numbers.

AUD/USD Short-term outlook

The outlook remains positive for the AUD/USD, particularly while above the 100-day simple moving average at 0.7235. A decline under 0.7230 would alleviate the bullish tone, exposing the next critical support seen around 0.7180 (20 and 55-day SMA).

On the upside, AUD/USD is facing strong resistance around 0.7280/85. A consolidation above 0.7280 should clear the way for 0.7300, with the next resistance seen at the January high at 0.7315 (January 13); the 200-day SMA awaits at 0.7327.

Technical levels

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.727
Today Daily Change	0.0017
Today Daily Change %	0.23
Today daily open	0.7253

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.7175
Daily SMA50	0.7185
Daily SMA100	0.7238
Daily SMA200	0.733

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.7291
Previous Daily Low	0.7238
Previous Weekly High	0.7285
Previous Weekly Low	0.7094
Previous Monthly High	0.7286
Previous Monthly Low	0.7032
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.7258
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.7271
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.723
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.7207
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.7176
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.7283
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.7314
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.7337

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

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