AUD/USD remains under pressure below 0.80 as greenback preserves strength
The AUD/USD pair recently refreshed its daily low at 0.7932 and is having a rough time making a meaningful recovery as the greenback continues to gather strength against its peers. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7934, losing 0.27% on the day.
Amid a lack of fresh significant macroeconomic data that could impact the price action on Monday, the US Dollar Index is taking advantage of the fact that the Fed is looking to move with its normalization process as suggested by the FOMC's statement released on Wednesday. Moreover, New York Fed President William Dudley on Monday said that he was expecting a continued gradual policy tightening and further added that the temporary factors depressing the inflation were fading. At the moment, the DXY is at 92.48, gaining 0.58% on the day.
On the other hand, the demand for the risk-sensitive aussie is weakening on Monday amid resurfacing geopolitical tensions between the United States and North Korea. Moreover, copper prices are down 0.5% on the day, further weighing on the currency.
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With no more data left in the remainder of the day, investors will be following Chicago Fed President Charles Evans' speech later in the session. If Evans follows the trend of delivering relatively hawkish remarks, we could see the US Dollar Index extending its gains toward the 93 handle and drag the AUD/USD pair lower.
Technical outlook
The RSI indicator on the daily graph turned south below the 50 handle, suggesting that the near-term bearish momentum is building up. 0.7910 (Sep. 22 low) could be seen as the first technical support for the pair ahead of 0.7870 (Aug. 31 low) and 0.7800 (Aug. 15 low/psychological level). On the upside, resistances align at 0.7950 (50-DMA), 0.8000 (psychological level/20-DMA) and 0.8090 (Sep. 20 high).
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