When is the Aussie GDP release, and how could it affect the AUD/USD?

Australian GDP overview

Early Wednesday at 00:30 GMT sees the next round of Australia's GDP figures, with the annualized pace of economic growth forecast to clock in at 3.3%, a slight tick under the previous period's 3.4%, while the quarter-on-quarter numbers are expected to slip from 0.9% to 0.6%. With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) keeping interest rates staunchly buried at 1.5%, bullish investors will be looking for signs of pickup within Australia's domestic economy far ahead of any expectations of interest rate hikes, but with GDP pinned firmly above 3% annually, a good reading is still unlikely to spur bidders into the fold, as lopsided growth remains a key risk for the Aussie.

How could it affect the AUD/USD?

Despite pinning into fresh highs this week, the Aussie remains capped on gains for the time being after this week's early bull-run on recovering risk appetite evaporated as quickly as it appeared, and AUD/USD remains underbid at its current levels, as noted by FXStreet's Chief Analyst, Valeria Bednarik: "the pair is close to filling the weekly opening gap, as it fell to 0.7325 before bouncing some, now trading around 0.7340. The fact that the pair didn't fall further with such an equities decline, suggests that bulls are still dominating the pair. In the 4 hours chart, the pair is currently battling with its 20 SMA, which has lost directional strength, although still well above the larger ones. Technical indicators have eased further within positive ground but the bearish strength moderated in the final hours of trading. A break through 0.7315, the immediate support, should lead to a steeper decline with buyers then probably resurging on an approach to 0.7250, a strong static support."

 Support levels: 0.7315 0.7290 0.7250

Resistance levels: 0.7360 0.7400 0.7440  

Key notes

AUD/USD analysis: bulls battling with Wall Street

About the Aussie GDP release

The Gross Domestic Product released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is a measure of the total value of all goods and services produced by Australia. The GDP is considered as a broad measure of the economic activity and health. A rising trend has a positive effect on the AUD, while a falling trend is seen as negative (or bearish) for the AUD.