AUD/USD rebounds toward 0.74 as greenback fails to regain strength

• US Dollar Index looks to end the day in the red near mid-94s.
• AUD/USD pares daily losses, finds resistance ahead of 0.74.

The AUD/USD pair fell to a daily low of 0.7345 in the early European session and staged a robust recovery in the second half of the day. After touching a session high at 0.7393, the pair went into a consolidation phase and was last seen trading at 0.7385, where it was up 0.22% on the day.

The greenback’s market valuation seems to be the primary driver of the pair’s price action on Thursday. The US Dollar Index, which advanced to a fresh 2018 high at 95.22, lost its traction amid a weaker demand for risky assets in the NA session. Wall Street’s negative opening to the day and its steep fall following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow states tax online retailers, weighed on the T-bond yields and the buck. Toward the end of the session, the index was down 0.33% near 94.50.

On the other hand, the commodity-sensitive AUD seems to be receiving an additional boost from the rising crude oil prices. Ahead of tomorrow’s critical OPEC summit in Vienna, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate regained the $66 mark.

There won’t be any macroeconomic data releases from Australia on Friday and the pair is likely to stay in its recent range in the short-term.

Technical levels to consider

The initial support for the pair could be seen at 0.7345 (daily low) ahead of 0.7285 (Jan. 6, 2017, low) and 0.7200 (psychological level). On the upside, resistances are located at 0.7425 (Jun. 19 high), 0.7500 (psychological level) and 0.7540 (50-DMA).