• Weaker Aussie trade surplus data prompts some selling on Tuesday.
• Modest USD rebound/rising US bond yields further add to the pressure.
• Downside seems limited ahead of Wednesday’s FOMC meeting minutes.
The AUD/USD pair traded with a mild negative bias through the Asian session on Tuesday and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range, around the 0.7130-25 region.
A combination of supporting factors - persistent US Dollar selling bias and renewed US-China trade optimism, assisted the pair to build on last week's strong rebound from almost a decade low and climb to two-week tops on the first trading day of the week.
The up-move, however, lacked any follow-through, rather started losing steam on Tuesday after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported a weaker trade surplus of A$ 1,925 million in November as compared to A$2,230 million consensus estimates.
The pair now seems to have snapped three consecutive days of winning streak and was further weighed down by a modest USD rebound from the weakest level since mid-October, this time supported by strong follow-through pickup in the US Treasury bond yields.
Meanwhile, growing market bets that the Fed will adopt a slower pace of rate increases, or perhaps even pause the tightening cycle in 2019 might now keep a lid on any runaway rally for the greenback and thus, help limit any meaningful downside for the major.
Moving ahead, the release of the latest FOMC meeting minutes on Wednesday, followed by the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's scheduled speech a day after will play an important role in driving sentiment surrounding the buck and eventually provide a meaningful directional impetus.
Technical levels to watch
AUD/USD
Overview:
Today Last Price: 0.7128
Today Daily change: -16 pips
Today Daily change %: -0.224%
Today Daily Open: 0.7144
Trends:
Previous Daily SMA20: 0.7102
Previous Daily SMA50: 0.7186
Previous Daily SMA100: 0.7183
Previous Daily SMA200: 0.7341
Levels:
Previous Daily High: 0.7151
Previous Daily Low: 0.7089
Previous Weekly High: 0.7125
Previous Weekly Low: 0.6684
Previous Monthly High: 0.7394
Previous Monthly Low: 0.7014
Previous Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 0.7127
Previous Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 0.7113
Previous Daily Pivot Point S1: 0.7105
Previous Daily Pivot Point S2: 0.7066
Previous Daily Pivot Point S3: 0.7043
Previous Daily Pivot Point R1: 0.7167
Previous Daily Pivot Point R2: 0.719
Previous Daily Pivot Point R3: 0.7229
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