AUD/USD Review: 0.74 remains the level to beat for Aussie traders

• The Aussie remains stuck in a range pattern near 0.74; a lack of meaningful AUD-based data will leave the major pair at the whim of Greenback traders.
• Mid-tier Aussie data due today likely to be supplanted by China PMI figures due early in the day.

The AUD/USD continues to trade in a stuck pattern near the 0.7400 major technical level, sticking within a tight sub-thirty pip range for Monday’s action.

HIA New Home Sales figures for Australia are expected to show a 4.5% rebound from the previous contraction of -4.4%, but traders’ focus will also be split on June’s Building Permits (expected 0.0%, previous -3.2%) at 01:30 GMT, and China data due early on Tuesday at 01:00 GMT. China’s NBS Manufacturing PMI for July is expected to contract slightly from 51.5 to 51.3, while the Chinese Non-Manufacturing PMI is expected to hold steady at 55.

In a week loaded with central bank action across several continents, the Aussie is underwhelmingly represented on the economic calendar, and directional bias will be landing firmly in the hands of USD traders.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis

The Aussie-Dollar pairing is struggling to find a directional bias after getting trapped by the 0.7400 key figure, though a mildly bullish bias may have formed now that the 50-period SMA on 15-Minute charts has crossed back above both the 100-period and 200-period SMAs, though with the Aussie trapped near the 0.7400 level since mid-June, traders are likely to remain biased towards the middle, and any deviations from 0.7400 without a directional confirmation are likely to get faded back to the median.

AUD/USD Chart, 15-Minute