The Australian dollar has rebounded on Tuesday after a poor start to the week. In the European session, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6737, up 1.28%.
What goes down … can go right back up. This has been the story early this week for the Australian dollar, which tumbled 1.5% on Monday but has recovered most of those losses today. The Australian dollar was hit hard after a weak retail sales report and widespread unrest in China over the country’s zero-covid policy. The unrest in China has put a damper on risk appetite, as the result is likely to exacerbate supply chain disruptions and dampen domestic spending. Investors may have sensed an opportunity for profit-taking after the massive slide on Monday, which would help explain the rebound today.
Fed members keep up the blitz
The Fed doesn’t hold a policy meeting for another two weeks, but the Fedspeak blitz, which started after the soft US inflation report sent the markets in a tizzy, continued in earnest on Monday. Fed member Bullard said on Monday the markets could be underestimating the likelihood of higher rates and that the Fed funds rate will have to reach the bottom end of the 5%-7% range in order to curb inflation, which has been more persistent than anticipated. Fed member Williams added that the Fed needed to do more work to tame inflation, which is “far too high”. Fed member Brainard, a dove, expressed concern about inflation expectations rising above the Fed’s 2% target. The Fed has been aggressive in telegraphing the markets that its rate cycle is far from over, a message we’re likely to continue to hear in the coming weeks.
AUD/USD Technical
- AUD/USD is testing resistance at 0.6707. The next resistance line is 0.6829
- There is support at 0.6633 and 0.6511