AUD/USD remains confined in a range, moves little post-US macro data

• AUD/USD struggled for a firm direction on Thursday and was seen oscillating in a range.
• The risk-off mood benefitted the safe-haven USD and kept a lid on the intraday bounce.
• Mixed US economic data failed to impress traders or provide any meaningful impetus.

The AUD/USD pair seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses through the early North American session and had a rather muted reaction to the US macro releases.

The pair did get a minor intraday lift, albeit struggled to capitalize on the attempted recovery move and failed ahead of the 0.6900 round-figure mark amid a broad-based US dollar strength. Investors remain concerned that a sharp rise in the number of new coronavirus cases globally could trigger fresh lockdown measures.

This, in turn, dampened prospects of a sharp V-shaped global economic recovery and continued weighing on investors’ sentiment. The same was evident from a fresh leg down in the equity markets, which benefitted the greenback’s relative safe-haven status and exerted some pressure on the perceived riskier aussie.

The USD bulls maintained its bid tone following the release of mixed US macro data, showing that durable goods orders recorded a strong growth of 15.8% in May as compared to 10.9% anticipated. Adding to this, core durable goods orders, which exclude transportation items, and don-defence capital goods orders also came in better-than-anticipated.

The reading was strong enough to offset the disappointing release of Initial Weekly Jobless Claims, which fell less than expected to 1.48 million during the week that ended June 19. Meanwhile, the final version of the GDP report confirmed that the US economy contracted by 5% annualized pace during the first quarter of 2020.

The data did little to provide any meaningful impetus to the pair, which, so far, has just managed to hold support marked by the lower end of a three-month-old ascending trend-channel. A convincing breakthrough the mentioned support might be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and pave the way for further weakness.

Technical levels to watch