AUD/USD extends weekly losses and drops below 0.7300

• The AUD/USD continues falling despite an improved market sentiment on news from Ukraine.
• Ukraine would not insist on joining NATO – AFP.
• AUD/USD Price Forecast: In the long-term neutral-upward biased but might print a leg down towards the 50% Fibo, confluence with the 0.7200 mark.

The AUD/USD slides for the second consecutive day, despite improved mood in the financial markets was spurred by an announcement of Ukraine not insisting on joining NATO, as reported by AFP. However, at the time of writing, the AUD/USD is trading at 0.7280, still down 0.47%.

Earlier in the day, the market mood was dismal, weighed by no advancement on negotiations between Russia-Ukraine. However, recent developments linked to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s conditions to a ceasefire, appear to have been fulfilled, in what seems to be a nod to Russia to remain neutral.

US equity markets jumped off the lows and reacted positively to the headlines, with main indexes gaining between 1.06% and 2.13%. Gold retraced from daily highs in the commodities complex, while US crude oil benchmark WTI is almost flat, though above $121 per barrel. Meanwhile, as portrayed by the US Dollar Index, the greenback drops 0.30%, sitting at 99.000.

In the overnight session, news from the European Union (EU) getting ready to jointly issue a bond on a considerable scale to finance energy easied the market mood some. However, demand for safe-haven peers and rising US Treasury yields put a lid on the AUD/USD.

The economic docket for both countries lacks the market-moving news expected by market players. Around 22:30 GMT, Reserver Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Lowe would cross the wires, while on Wednesday, the US economic docket would feature JOLTs Jobs Openings, expected at 10.96M.

AUD/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook

During the overnight session for North American traders, the AUD/USD jumped off Monday’s lows around 0.7313, reached a daily high around 0.7347, subsequently dipped below the S1 daily pivot point at 0.7244, to then stabilize around 0.7280.

The AUD/USD remains neutral-upward biased, but in the near-term, a leg down to the 50% Fibonacci retracement at 0.7204, an area that confluences with the 100 and the 50-day moving averages (DMAs), might be on the cards. That said, the AUD/USD first support would be the 38.2% Fibonacci level at 0.7260. Once cleared, the AUD/USD would reach the abovementioned level.