AUD/USD off lows, still in the red below mid-0.6800s

• Disappointing Aussie services PMI exerted some fresh pressure on Thursday.
• Nervousness ahead of Thursday’s key event/releases adds to the selling bias.

The AUD/USD pair came under some renewed selling pressure on Thursday and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range, around the 0.6840-35 region.
 
The pair failed to capitalize on the overnight late rebound from weekly lows and faced rejection near 100-day SMA following the release of weaker-than-expected Australia Services PMI print for October. The gauge came in at 50.8 as compared to consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 52.2 and largely negated upbeat Manufacturing PMI, which unexpectedly climbed to 50.1 versus 49.0 expected.

Focus on Pence’s speech on China

This coupled with the prevalent cautious mood, heading into Thursday’s key event/releases, further collaborated towards driving flows away from perceived riskier currencies – like the Aussie. Apart from this, investors will also be eyeing the US Vice President Mike Pence’s speech on China, which will play a key role in influencing the broader sentiment surrounding the China-proxy Australian Dollar.
 
In the meantime, the ECB-led volatility in the FX market might help traders grab some short-term trading opportunities ahead of the release of durable goods orders data from the US, due later during the early North-American session. It will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to attract any buying interest at lower levels or the current pullback marks the end of the recent recovery move from multi-year lows set earlier this October.

Technical levels to watch