AUD/USD under pressure due to weak forward-looking Aussie data

AUD/USD is losing altitude on weak forward-looking Aussie data
AUD is being offered in response to dismal forward-looking Westpac leading index.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

The data confirmed the Australian economy is set to operate at a below-trend pace in the near future.

The selling bias around the Australian Dollar (AUD) gathered traction, pushing the AUD/USD pair down to session lows near 0.6850 after a forward-looking indicator showed the Australian economy will continue to operate at a below-trend growth pace into late 2019 and early 2020.

The Westpac Leading Index (MoM) (Aug) fell to -0.30% from July's print of 0.14%. The major contributors to the sharp fall in the growth rate over the month came from substantial drags from the share market, commodity prices, and dwelling approvals, according to official data.

Essentially, July's improvement was short-lived and the index growth rate fell back into the negative territory in August. It is worth noting that the index's growth rate has deteriorated over the last six months from –0.15% in March to –0.35% in August.

The data was released at 00:30 GMT, following the AUD/USD pair extended the losses to hit session lows near 0.6850. Prior to data release, the pair was trading near 0.6860, having hit highs near 0.6867 in the early Asian trading hours.

The Westpac leading index validated the Reserve Bank of Australia's dovish tone and the currency pair will likely remain on the defensive during the day ahead.

The central bank is widely expected to cut rates in November, while Westpac believes there is no reason for the RBA to delay the rate hike beyond October.

Technical levels

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.6852
Today Daily Change	-0.0014
Today Daily Change %	-0.20
Today daily open	0.6866

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.6801
Daily SMA50	0.685
Daily SMA100	0.69
Daily SMA200	0.701

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.6871
Previous Daily Low	0.6829
Previous Weekly High	0.6895
Previous Weekly Low	0.6837
Previous Monthly High	0.6869
Previous Monthly Low	0.6676
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.6855
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.6845
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.684
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.6813
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.6798
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.6882
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.6897
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.6924

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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