AUD/USD retreats to mid-0.7200s on broad-based USD strength

AUD/USD turned south after testing 0.7300 on Tuesday.
US Dollar Index rose to its highest level in more than two weeks.
Risk aversion helps USD gather strength against its rivals.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The AUD/USD pair registered small losses on Monday and recovered to 0.7300 area during the Asian session. However, the risk-off market environment and the broad-based USD strength forced the pair to reverse its direction. As of writing, AUD/USD was down 0.25% on the day at 0.7255.

AUD struggles to find demand amid heightened US-China tensions

Although US markets were closed due to the Labor Day Holiday on Monday, US President Donald Trump's comments triggered a new bout of flight-to-safety. Trump said there was a possibility of the US economy decoupling from China and announced that they will prohibit federal contracts to companies that outsource to China.

Reflecting the negative market sentiment, which weighs on the risk-sensitive AUD, major European equity indexes are down between 0.4% and 1.35% on the day and the S&P 500 futures are down 0.55%.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index (DXY) continues to push higher and builds on the five-day winning streak on Tuesday. Earlier in the session, the DXY touched its highest level since August 21st at 93.43 and was last seen gaining 0.25% on the day at 93.29.

In the early trading hours of the Asian session on Wednesday, Westpac Consumer Confidence Index, Home Loans and Investment Lending for Homes data will be featured in the Australian economic docket.

Technical levels to watch for

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.7257
Today Daily Change	-0.0020
Today Daily Change %	-0.27
Today daily open	0.7277

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.7238
Daily SMA50	0.7129
Daily SMA100	0.6897
Daily SMA200	0.6749

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.7299
Previous Daily Low	0.727
Previous Weekly High	0.7416
Previous Weekly Low	0.7222
Previous Monthly High	0.7416
Previous Monthly Low	0.7076
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.7281
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.7288
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.7265
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.7252
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.7235
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.7294
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.7311
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.7324

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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