AUD/USD keeps the red below 0.6800 handle post-US data
- The AUD/USD pair once again managed to rebound from the 0.6775-70 region.
- A modest pickup in the US bond yields underpinned the USD and capped gains.
- Mostly upbeat US macro releases remained supportive of a mildly positive USD.
The AUD/USD pair held on to its mildly weaker tone below the 0.6800 handle and had a rather muted reaction to the latest US macro data.
Heading into Wednesday's important US economic releases, the pair did manage to find some support near the 0.6775-70 horizontal zone, or over one-month lows amid growing optimism over a possible US-China trade deal.
The uptick, however, lacked any strong bullish conviction and ran out of steam ahead of the 0.6800 handle in the wake of a modest pickup in the US dollar demand, this time backed by rebounding US Treasury bond yields.
The greenback remained well supported by an upward revision of the third-quarter GDP growth figures, which showed that the economy expanded at an annualized pace of 2.1% as compared to 1.9% estimated originally.
Adding to this, the US Durable Goods Orders recorded an unexpected growth of 0.6% in October as against a fall of 0.8% expected and the previous month's downwardly revised reading of -1.4% (-1.1 reported previously).
Excluding transportation items - core durable goods orders – also bettered market expectations and came in to show a rise of 0.6% during the reported month as against 0.1% expected and the previous month's fall of 0.4%.
Meanwhile, the USD bulls failed to capitalize on the positive reading and refrained from placing any aggressive bets, which eventually might turn out to be one of the key factors helping limit any further downside.
Technical levels to watch