AUD/USD: LT falling trendline break remains elusive, copper slips and China data disappoints

• The AUD failed to take out the trendline connecting the January high and July high yesterday as the Fed hiked rates and signaled further tightening.
• The AUD may remain under pressure today as copper is reporting losses for the fourth straight day.
• China industrial profit growth slowed for a fourth straight month in August.

The AUD/USD carved a bottom around 0.71 earlier this month, but a bearish-to-bullish trend change still remains elusive.

The pair picked up a strong bid yesterday after the Fed hiked rates and said that policy is no longer “accommodative.” However, a break above the trendline connecting January highs was short-lived as markets soon realized that while the policy is nearer to neutral, the Fed is still not done raising rates.

At press time, the AUD/USD is trading at 0.7255, having closed at 0.7256 yesterday. The trendline hurdle is located at 0.7282.

The pair could remain under pressure today, as copper, one of Australia’s top exports, is reporting losses for the fourth straight day. Further, China’s industrial profits growth slowed to a five-month low of 9.2 percent year-on-year in August, official data released a few minutes before press time showed.

AUD/USD Technical Levels

Resistance: 0.7282 (trendline hurdle), 0.7315 (previous day’s high), 0.7382 (Aug. 21 high)

Support: 0.7236 (Sept. 25 low), 0.7202 (Aug. 15 low), 0.7142 (Sept. 17 low)