AUD/USD nears 0.6780 as RBA’s Debelle, Fed Chair Powell refrain from strong direction

• AUD/USD stays close to multi-week low amid mixed rhetoric from the US and Australian monetary policymakers.
• Traders await fresh clues to extend the previous US-China phase one optimism amid recently mixed headlines from the GT.
• US data, Fedspeak in the spotlight amid a light economic calendar in Asia.

AUD/USD sellers catch a breath around 0.6780 during Tuesday’s Asian session. No major signals to the future monetary policy by the US and the Australian policymaker seem to have contributed to the market’s lack of momentum off-late. Markets will now look back to trade headlines amid a lack of major catalysts during the current session.

While speaking at the Australian Council of Social Service National Conference, Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) Deputy Governor Guy Debelle praises wage growth but fails to ignore broad uncertainty concerning the labor supply.

Read:  RBA Deputy Governor Debelle: Sees steady wage growth over next couple of years

On the other hand, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell also crosses wires while appearing at the Providence Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting in Rhode Island. The Fed boss reiterates his previous bias while signaling no change in the current monetary policy as long as economic data is consistent with moderate growth.

Read:  Fed’s Powell: Fed will respond accordingly

Given the lack of major clues of the future policy directions from the Fed and the RBA policy makers, traders are back to the headlines concerning the US-China trade deal. While optimism surrounding the phase one propelled the US dollar (USD) on Monday, the recent headlines from the Global Times (GT) criticize the United States (US) approach of deal with China while also citing the dragon nation’s ability to use rare earth minerals as a bargaining chip in trade talks. Though the US is yet to respond to the same and this might lead to the cautious optimism despite South China Morning Post (SCMP) signaling China heading into 2020 with the US trade deal before contacting the Eurozone.

Other than trade headlines, the US economic calendar is also likely to please momentum traders. The September month Housing Price Index and S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices will join October month’s New Home Sales. Also, Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index and Consumer Confidence will accompany a speech from the Fed Governor Lael Brainard to offer additional moves. Also, the RBA Governor Philip Lowe will speak around 09:05 GMT and will be closely observed.

Technical Analysis

Unless recovering back beyond an eight-week-old rising trend line, now at 0.6795, prices are less likely to revisit 21-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around 0.6820.