AUD/USD eases lower towards 0.79 as greenback preserves strength
The AUD/USD pair continues to trade under pressure on Wednesday with the greenback building on its recovery gains from yesterday. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7922, losing 0.38% on the day.
Following a rise towards the mid-92 area in the first half of the day, the US Dollar Index gathered traction in the early NA session as the robust macro data from the U.S. increased the demand for the greenback. According to the data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the preliminary GDP growth in the second quarter in the U.S. improved to 3% from 2.6%, beating the market expectation of 2.7%. Moreover, the ADP National Employment Report revealed that the private sector employment increased by 237,000 on a monthly basis in August, ramping up the expectations for a solid NFP reading on Friday. The US Dollar Index reached its session high at 92.80 after the data and is now at 92.70, up 0.47% on the day.
There no more significant data left in the remainder of the day and the pair is likely to stay near its daily lows. In the early Asia session on Thursday, new home sales, private sector credit, and private capital expenditure from Australia will be released. However, the impact of the data could remain limited as investors are likely to be focused on the greenback movements.
Technical outlook
On the daily graph, the RSI indicator is struggling to move away from the 50 area, suggesting that the pair is having a difficult time setting its next short-term direction. On the downside, the initial support could be seen at 0.7900/05 (psychological level/20-DMA) ahead of 0.7865 (50-DMA) and 0.7805/00 (Aug. 15 low/psychological level). On the upside, resistances align at 0.8000 (daily high/psychological level), 0.8040 (Aug. 1 high) and 0.8100 (psychological level).
- AUD/USD ranges have compressed - Westpac
Today's data from the U.S.
- US: Private sector employment increased by 237,000 jobs in August
- US: Real GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.0% in second quarter of 2017