AUD/USD – Flat in Light Trade

AUD/USD is showing little movement on Wednesday, as the pair is trading just above the 0.81 line. In the US, Unemployment Claims dropped to 280 thousand, beating the forecast. There are no Australian releases on Wednesday.

US Unemployment Claims continues to drop, reflecting a brighter employment picture as the economy continues to pick up steam. The indicator dropped to 280 thousand last week. This easily beat the estimate of 291 thousand and marked a fourth straight drop. There was excellent news on Tuesday, as GDP soared by 5.0% in Q3, ahead of the estimate of 4.6%. This marked the indicator’s strongest gain since the third quarter of 2003. The US economy is expected to continue to surge in 2015, driven by increased consumer spending and confidence. The news was not as positive from Core Durable Goods Orders, which posted a decline of 0.4%, its fourth decline in five readings. The reading was well off the estimate of 1.1%. Durable Goods Orders looked even worse, with a reading of -0.7%. This surprised the markets which had anticipated a strong gain of 3.0%.

Elsewhere in the US, housing data continues to weaken as New Home Sales slipped to 438 thousand, its poorest showing since July and well short of the forecast of 461 thousand. UoM Consumer Sentiment continues to rise, hitting 93.6 points in December. This marked its highest level since February 2007, as the US consumer remains very optimistic about the economy as we move into 2015.

AUD/USD for Wednesday, December 24, 2014

AUD/USD December 24 at 13:45 GMT

AUD/USD 0.8115 H: 0.8124 L: 0.8104

 

AUD/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
0.7799 0.7904 0.8081 0.8150 0.8214 0.8315

 

  • AUD/USD has had a very quiet day. The pair edged higher in the Asian session and is unchanged in European trade.
  • 0.8150 is a weak resistance line. 0.8214 is stronger.
  • On the downside, 0.8081 continues to provide weak support. 0.7904 is next.
  • Current range: 0.8081 to 0.8150.

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 0.8081, 0.7904, 0.7799 and 0.7701
  • Above: 0.8150, 0.8214, 0.8315, 0.8456 and 0.8550

 

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

AUD/USD ratio is almost unchanged on Wednesday. This is consistent with the pair, which has shown very limited movement. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards AUD/USD moving higher.

AUD/USD Fundamentals

  • 13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 291K. Actual 280K.
  • 15:30 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -2.4M.
  • 17:00 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate -81B.

*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.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.