AUD/USD unmoved by RBA's Lowe, holding steady above 0.78 ahead of GDP figures.
- Greenback weakness sent AUD/USD higher in Tuesday trading, GDP data could challenge pair.
- RBA governor Lowe's speech provides little new information, RBA holding pattern to resume.
The AUD/USD is trading thinly heading into the overnight session, testing the waters near 0.7820.
The Aussie followed the other major currencies up the charts against the US Dollar in Tuesday's trading as the Greenback settles lower against the major bloc with US equities middling and bond yields lower. Tensions are running on the high side with headlines swamped with conjecture over the surprise talks between North and South Korea, while Donald Trump's tariff threats last week still hang over equities, though hopes are running high that a peaceful resolution to Trump's trade war musings will be found quickly.
Philip Lowe, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), gave a speech today where he touched lightly on monetary policy. The general gist of Lowe's comments produce nothing new and serve only to confirm what markets have already known for a while: Australia's economy is still under-performing global growth trends, and the Australian central bank is still playing wait-and-see with rate changes. The Aussie bumped a few ticks up on Lowe's comments but has settled back within the consolidation range established during the New York trading session.
Australia will be seeing the AiG Performance of Construction Index at 22:30 today, but with Aussie GDP figures dropping at 00:30 early Wednesday, the effect will be muted as traders wait to see the lastest growth numbers. Median estimates have GDP coming in around 2.5%, but with the recent downturn in key economic indicators, this number may be too high, and a downside miss could see the AUD giving back some of Tuesday's gains.
AUD/USD Technicals
Tuesday's drive upwards sees the pair trading back over the 200-day SMA, but with the move being attributed to USD selling and not any intrinsic strength for the AUD, it is unlikely the move will hold, and any disappointing news today will send the pair right back down in short order. H$ candles still have the pair making lower lows and lower highs, with intraday support levels marked at 0.7755 and 0.7712 while resistance sits at 0.7893 and 0.7988.