AUD / USD clears gains after failing to exceed 0.7340

  • The AUD / USD is trading on neutral ground for two days.
  • The RBA says it is ready to provide more encouragement.

The AUD / USD completed two days with gains on Monday and had the highest daily close in two months. On Tuesday it extended the rise to 0.7339, matching the intraday highs of November. After failing to break above 0.7340, it set back and is trading at 0.7315, in neutral ground for the day.

So much the rise ofl AUD / USD as the subsequent pullback, had the dollar as its main driver. The greenback was weak and regained some strength in the last hour, before the release of US retail sales data.

Traders will also keep an eye out for presentations by Jerome Powell from the Federal Reserve and Christine Lagarde from the European Central Bank. With regard to central banks, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting. In them, it is read that the board of directors considered that the negative rates were not necessary. However, the document revealed that the RBA is ready to provide additional stimulus through increased bond purchases. The AUD was unchanged.

Stock markets are retreating across the globe, making commodity-linked and emerging market currencies less attractive. Should the decline accelerate, this would put further downward pressure on AUD / USD.

Technical levels

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