AUD/USD analysis: bulls testing bears determination at 0.7300

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

AUD/USD Current price: 0.7268

AUD advanced despite not many bullish signs from peripheral markets.
US Federal Reserve hiked rates as expected, base metals fell, equities rose.

The AUD/USD pair hovered between gains and losses all through the first two daily sessions, holding not far from its recent comfort zone around 0.7250 ahead of the US Central Bank announcement. The Aussie found some support early Asia in the better performance of base metals but dollar's strength during London trading hours put them back under pressure. The AUD/USD pair held steady, and even hit a fresh 4-week high at 0.7314 following FED monetary policy meeting's outcome, initially backed by the market's understanding the Fed statement as dovish, later by the positive tone of US equities, despite no fireworks were seen there. The Aussie is the best performer, even despite falling commodities' prices and a plummeting CAD, a sign of warning for bears. There are no macroeconomic headlines scheduled in Australia for this Thursday.

From a technical point of view, the short-term picture for the pair is now offering a neutral-to-bullish technical stance, as it's trading above all of its moving averages in the 4 hours chart, which anyway lack directional strength, as technical indicators hold above their midlines, the Momentum heading nowhere around its 100 level, and the RSI currently at 55. As long as the price holds above 0.7255, however, the risk is skewed to the upside, with another attempt to break the 0.7300 threshold probably resulting in an advance up to 0.7360.

Support levels: 0.7220 0.7190 0.7155

Resistance levels: 0.7300 0.7335 0.7360

View Live Chart for the AUD/USD

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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