AUD/USD: Risk-on mood, upbeat second-tier Aussie data back bulls attacking 0.7700

AUD/USD jumps to 0.7698, at an intraday high with 0.10% gains, during Tuesday's Asian session. The aussie pair recently benefited from upbeat data at home and risk-on mood as Tokyo opens. However, bulls are cautious ahead of the key events in the US.

Australia’s ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence eases to 108.7 from 108.9. Even so, the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said, “Consumer confidence was down 0.2% last week, with the details mixed. Confidence is higher than this time last year, with the sentiment in January 2020 impacted by the bushfires. ‘Current financial conditions’ deteriorated 3.0%, while ‘future financial conditions’ improved by 2.4%. ‘Current economic conditions’ rose 1.2%, while ‘future economic conditions’ inched up 0.5%.

On the other hand, the HIA New Home Sales report for December 2020 reads, “New Home Sales reached remarkable heights in December, nearly doubling compared to the number of sales recorded in November. Sales during the December 2020 quarter were 48.7 percent higher than the September 2020 quarter and 99.5 percent higher than the same time the previous year. This is the second strongest month of new home sales in the 20 years of the survey. This result is only exceeded by March 2001.”

It should be noted that there was zero new coronavirus (COVID-19) cases from the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Victoria per ABC News. However, China marked an increase in virus cases from 109 to 118 the previous day.

Elsewhere, New Zealand raised bars for foreign arrivals, except for Australia and other Pacific friends, while US President Donald Trump’s executive order releasing Europe and Brazil from travel restrictions seem to be challenged by the upcoming Biden government. Also affecting the risk could be incoming Treasury Secretary Yellen’s indirect support to US President-elect Joe Biden’s heavy stimulus.

Against this backdrop, S&P 500 Futures rise 0.50% while stocks in Australia and Japan are also up by press time.

Moving on, Yellen’s speech in the US Senate will be the key ahead of Wednesday’s inaugural ceremony of Biden and the ECB meeting. At home, Thursday’s release of employment data for December will be important to watch.

Technical analysis

AUD/USD reluctance to close beneath 21-day SMA, at 0.7686 now, directs buyers to aim for the previous support line from November 02, currently around 0.7745.