AUD/USD consolidates gains towards 0.6600 on downbeat Aussie Retail Sales

• Coronavirus headlines seem to lack courage in disappointing Aussie buyers amid broad US dollar weakness.
• Fed policymakers keep trying to negate the possibilities of another rate cut in March.
• US NFP will be in the spotlight while qualitative catalysts hold the driver’s seat.

AUD/USD takes a U-turn from the intra-day high of 0.6624 to 0.6610 after Australian Retail Sales marked downbeat figures on early Friday.

Read: Australia’s Retail Sales drop 0.3% in Jan, surprise negatively – AUD/USD off the highs

Australia’s January month Retail Sales slipped below 0.0% forecast to -0.3% but stays above -0.5% prior. Earlier during the day, Australia’s AiG Performance of Services Index for February lagged behind 47.4 before 47.00.

Buyers are likely paying a little to the Aussie fundamentals, as well as its role as a risk-barometer, maybe because the US dollar is declining heavily amid rising calls of another rate cut from the Fed during March.

The US equities remain in the sea of red while the coronavirus cases continue to rise in the world’s largest economy. Recently, the US Vice President Mike Pence accepted that they lack virus testing kits for now. Further, New York officials also recently crossed wires while saying that nearly 2,733 people in the city are under coronavirus quarantines.

While COVID-19 headlines will keep the driver’s seat, US employment data for February will also be the key to watch. Forecasts suggest disappointment from the headline Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) confronting no change in 3.6% Unemployment Rate and mild weakness in Average Hourly Earnings of 3.1% to 3.0%.

Read More: Non-Farm Payrolls: Greenback comeback or cementing a second double Fed cut? Three scenarios

Technical Analysis

Unless closing back below the yearly trend line, at 0.6590 now, Aussie can keep challenging a 21-day SMA level of 0.6640 in search of visiting February 10, 2020 low near 0.6660.