AUD/USD consolidates near 1-month tops, comfortably above 0.6800 handle

• The pair gained some follow-through traction and climbed to one-month tops.
• Bulls took cues from upbeat Chinese industrial production/retail sales figures.

The AUD/USD pair now seems to have entered a bullish consolidation phase and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading band, just below one-month tops set earlier this Friday.
 
The pair edged higher on the last trading day of the week and added to the previous session’s strong gains despite softer Chinese GDP print, which dropped to a near 30-year low level of 6.0% in the third quarter of 2019 and marked a further loss of momentum.
 
The negative reading, to a larger extent, was offset by a larger-than-expected jump in the Chinese industrial production figures and mostly in line monthly retail sales data, which eventually underpinned the China-proxy Australian Dollar and provided a modest lift.
 
Meanwhile, the recent bearish pressure surrounding the US Dollar – led by firming market expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates further in October – seemed to have eased a bit and turned out to be one of the key factors that kept a lid on any further appreciating move.
 
It will now be interesting to see if bulls are able to maintain their dominant position or opt to take some profits off the table. Later during the North-American session, speeches by influential FOMC member might produce some short-term trading opportunities amid absent relevant market-moving US economic releases on the last trading day of the week.

Technical levels to watch