AUD/USD fails ahead of 200-DMA, surrenders early gains to weekly tops
- AUD/USD fails to capitalize on its early uptick to fresh weekly tops.
- A modest USD uptick kept a lid on the early uptick to 200-day SMA.
- Investors now look forward to the US macro data for a fresh impetus.
The AUD/USD pair surrendered early modest gains to weekly tops and has now retreated back to the lower end of its daily trading range, around the 0.6885-80 region.
The pair added to its positive move witnessed over the past two trading sessions and gained some follow-through traction during the Asian session on Friday on the back of the recent US-China trade optimism.
Focus shifts to US economic data
The catalysts included Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's comment that the phase one US-China trade agreement should be signed in January, which continued underpinning demand for the China-proxy Australian Dollar.
The pair refreshed weekly tops, albeit struggled to capitalize on the momentum further beyond the 0.6900 handle and faltered just ahead of the very important 200-day SMA amid a modest US dollar uptick.
As investors looked past the news of the US President Donald Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives, a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the greenback.
This coupled with a mildly cautious tone around equity markets further underpinned the USD's perceived safe-haven status and further collaborated to the pair's intraday pullback of around 20 pips from daily highs.
Moving ahead, market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the final Q3 GDP growth figures, for some short-term trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.
This coupled with the release of personal income/spending data and Core PCE price index might further influence the USD price dynamics and contributed towards the pair's momentum on the last trading day of the week.
Technical levels to watch