AUD/USD touches fresh session tops near 0.76 post-US data
The AUD/USD pair jumped nearly 30 pips in a quick manner following the macro data releases from the United States and touched its session high at 0.7600. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7598, up 0.4%, or 30 pips, on the day.
After both Durable Goods Orders and Chicago Fed National Activity Index readings came below the market expectations at the NA session opening, the US Dollar Index fell to its session low at 96.80. However, following the knee-jerk reaction to the data, the index started to consolidate its losses towards the 97 handle. At the moment, the index is at 96.90, losing 0.09% on the day.
- US: Chicago Fed National Activity Index was –0.26 in May, down from +0.57 in April
- US: New orders for manufactured durable goods in May decreased $2.5 billion
Last week, the pair lost around 50 pips on the back of Moody's downgrade of 4 major financial institutions and the pair is taking advantage of the weak greenback to recover some of those losses. Guy Debelle, the Assistant Governor (Financial Markets) at the Reserve Bank of Australia, will be giving a speech during the European session on Tuesday but this event could largely be ignored as last week's RBA minutes didn't offer anything surprising for the market. Later in the day, Fed's Chairwoman Janet Yellen's remarks will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Technical outlook
The RSI indicator on the daily graph is at 61, suggesting that the pair has more room on the upside before it becomes technically oversold. 0.7630 (Jun. 16 high) could be seen as the first technical support for the pair ahead of 0.7680 (Mar. 30 high) and 0.7745 (Mar. 20 high). To the downside, supports align at 0.7550 (20-DMA), 0.7515 (200-DMA) and 0.7480 (50-DMA).
- AUD to remain on the back foot this week - ANZ