- AUD/USD failed to hold above 0.6600 on Wednesday.
- Sour market sentiment weighs on risk-sensitive AUD on Thursday.
- Greenback stays relatively quiet ahead of US data dump.
The AUD/USD pair rose to its highest level since early-March at 0.6618 on Wednesday before going into a consolidation phase. After dropping to a daily low of 0.6549 on Thursday, the pair staged a modest recovery and was last seen trading at 0.6575, where it was still down 0.33% on a daily basis.
RBA’s Lowe dismisses negative rates
While speaking to a panel at FINSIA’s “The Regulators” Webinar on Thursday, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Phillip Lowe said the economic recovery was expected to be very slow without a COVID-10 medical breakthrough. Regarding the policy outlook, Lowe reiterated that the implementation of negative interest rates was still “extraordinarily unlikely” but failed to help the AUD find demand.
Meanwhile, the cautious market mood seems to be making it difficult for AUD/USD to extend its rebound. At the moment, the S&P 500 futures are down 0.5% to suggest that Wall Street is likely to open the day in the negative territory.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index is staying unchanged on the day near 99.15 ahead of key data releases from the US. In addition to the weekly Initial Jobless Claims, Existing Home Sales and Markit’s Manufacturing and Services PMI data will highlight the economic calendar during the American session.
If the data causes a fresh wave of flight-to-safety, the greenback could start gathering strength as a safe-haven and force the pair to push lower.
Technical levels to watch for
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