After a bad selloff on Friday, AUD is back at bid. AUD/USD is up over 0.75%, AUD/EUR is up 0.5%, AUD/GBP is up over 0.25%, AUD/JPY is up 0.50%, AUD/CAD is up over 0.50% and AUD/CHF is up over 0.25%. From the heat map it’s not just a weak USD. AUD has been in demand over the last 24 hours. There are still issues to be aware of, particularly negotiations between US and Iran over their war, which has caused energy prices to be at historical highs.
From a weekly perspective AUD/USD hit some resistance around the 0.72715 price level after 6 weeks of positive price moves. The FX cross appears to have found some support around the 0.71115 level, with further support seen at 0.70720, at the short term Supertrend line. Expectations are for a re-test of the 0.72715 resistance and once AUD/USD breaks through that the next level to watch is 0.7407.
AUD/USD has pushed below its 21-EMA on the daily chart, testing 0.71015 support. Thus far, the RSI has been briefly below 50 but appears to be recovering. This looks like AUD/USD is making a higher low before proceeding to move higher to test 0.72775 resistance.
AUD/JPY held above the 50-SMA but slipped below the bullish Supertrend which has now switched to negative. While the RSI has flipped back above 50 the Z-Score SMA is still trending lower so we may still see some consolidation on the FX pair in the short term. Nonetheless, the overall trend for AUD/JPY is upward and it is expected that it would make another attempt to break through 114.305.
AUD/USD hit some resistance at the 0.72775 level and pulled back near 0.71 support. It’s currently below its 50-SMA and the Supertrend has flipped negative with the RSI below 50-SMA. However, the downmove does appear exhausted with the Z-Score SMA hitting -2 and now turning higher. To confirm this we would need AUD/USD to climb back above the 50-SMA and the Supertrend to flip positive.
Resistance Levels: 0.72715, 0.74070
Medium Term Path: Despite the short term pullback, I still have a bullish and positive view on the FX cross. It’s worth noting that AUD/USD has held above medium term support and appears to have made a higher low around the 0.71-0.7110 zone. The FX pair needs to rebuild momentum before attempting to retest resistance.
Cedric Thompson, CMT, CFA, is an investment strategist with experience in asset management, corporate strategy, and multi-asset investing.