AUD/USD rises to strongest since early December on dovish Fed

• US Central bank keeps rates unchanged as expected, signals no further rate hikes.  
• Powell to deliver press conference at 19:30 GMT.  
• AUD/USD soars and heads for the highest close since early December.  

The AUD/USD pair broke decisively above 0.7200 after the FOMC left monetary policy unchanged and moved to a “patient” stance. It climbed from 0.7195 to 0.7247, reaching the highest intraday level since December 6. The Aussie so far is consolidating above previous January highs, strengthening the bullish case from a technical perspective. If current levels area confirm, a rally to 0.7300 seems likely.  

The move higher was triggered by a dramatic decline of the greenback across the board. The tone from the Fed pushed the US dollar sharply to the downside. The central bank offered no signals of a rate hike at the next meeting and announced it would be “patient” in evaluating incoming data. It also affirmed that it was ready to adjust the balance sheet normalization program. All in all, the new stance of the Fed looks more dovish than what traders were expecting and sent the US dollar to the downside. Now, attention turns to Chair Powell that will deliver a press conference at 19:30 GMT.  

Short-term key levels  

Over the next sessions, it would be essential to see it the AUD/USD manages to hold on top of 0.7205 and 0.7250. If it does so, the technical bias will point to further gains. Above 0.7250, resistance levels might be seen at 0.7275 and 0.7290. On the flip side, now 0.7235 (previous Jan high) is the immediate support followed by 0.7200/05 and 0.7180 (US session low).