AUD/USD – Firm Ahead of US Housing Sales

AUD/USD has posted slight gains in Tuesday trading. The pair continues to trade at high levels, as the pair remains in the mid-0.93 range early in the North American session. On the release front, Tuesday’s key event is US Existing Home Sales. The indicator has been softening, and the markets expect the downward trend to continue. Australian CB Leading Index showed little change in March. The markets are waiting for Australian CPI, this week’s major event, which will be published early on Wednesday.

US releases ended last week on a high note, as employment and manufacturing numbers were strong. The all-important Unemployment Claims was up slightly to 304 thousand, but had no trouble beating the estimate of 316 thousand. With the Federal Reserve planning another trim to its QE program at the end of the month and speculation rising about a possible interest rate increase next year, every employment release is under the market microscope. Meanwhile, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index soared to 16.6 points, its best showing since September. This was well above the estimate of 9.6 points.

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine hasn’t had much of an effect on the markets until now, but that could quickly change if the charged situation spirals out of control. Russian President Putin has threatened to act on his “right” to invade Ukraine, and has steeply raised the price that Ukraine must pay for its gas supplies. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk blasted the move as “economic aggression” and said his country must prepare for a complete cutoff of Russian gas. Meanwhile, US Vice-President Joe Biden is in Kiev in a show of support for Ukraine, and the US has said it will increase sanctions if no progress is made in resolving the crisis.

AUD/USD for Tuesday, April 22, 2014

AUD/USD April 22 at 13:30 GMT

AUD/USD 0.9359 H: 0.9370 L: 0.9332

AUD/USD Technical

• AUD/USD has posted limited gains on Tuesday.
• 0.9229 continues to provide strong support.
• On the upside, 0.9361 is under strong pressure. This is followed by a strong resistance line at 0.9446.
• Current range: 0.9229 to 0.9361.

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 0.9229, 0.9119, 0.9000 and 0.8893
• Above: 0.9361, 0.9446, 0.9542, 0.9617 and 0.9703

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

AUD/USD ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards the Australian dollar moving to higher ground.

AUD/USD has posted modest gains on Tuesday. The pair is unchanged in the North American session.

AUD/USD Fundamentals

• 00:00 Australian CB Leading Index. Actual 0.3%.
• 13:00 US HPI. Estimate 0.6%. Actual 0.6%.
• 14:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 4.57M.
•  14:00 US Richmond Manufacturing Index. Estimate 0 points.

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.