AUD/USD sticks to gains near 0.7100 handle but lacks follow-through

   • Australian government downplayed reports of a ban on the country’s coal by a Chinese port.
   •  Upbeat comments by RBA’s Lowe/US-China trade optimism provided an additional boost.
   •  Subdued USD demand remains supportive of the intraday up-move ahead of Fedspeak.

The AUD/USD pair held on to its positive tone through the early European session, albeit seemed struggling to build on the momentum beyond 200-hour SMA.

The pair caught some bids on the last trading day of the week and recovered a part of the previous session slump to over one-week lows, triggered by reports that China’s Dalian port authorities had banned Australian coal imports. The government, however, downplayed the ban on the country's coal by a Chinese port, which coupled with additional supporting factors eased the bearish pressure, rather helped stage a goodish bounce on Friday.

The US Dollar held on the defensive in wake of Thursday's soft US economic data, which reaffirmed market expectations that the Fed will hold interest rates steady and was evident from a fresh leg of downslide in the US Treasury bond yields. The Aussie further benefitted from upbeat remarks by RBA Governor Lowe, saying that there may be a case for a higher interest rate if the jobless rate drops below the current level of 5%.

This coupled with growing optimism over a possible resolution of the US-China trade spat further underpinned the China-proxy Australian Dollar and remained supportive of the intraday move back above the 0.7100 handle. The world's two biggest economies were reported to be currently outlining a deal and may soon reach an agreement, albeit failed to provide any additional boost.

Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a strong follow-through buying before traders again start positioning for any further near-term appreciating move amid absent relevant market moving economic releases from the US. However, speeches by influential FOMC members will be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities later during the North-American session.

Technical levels to watch