AUD/USD renews multi-month lows, closes in on 0.7300
- AUD/USD remains under constant bearish pressure on Tuesday.
- US Dollar Index extends rally, renews multi-month highs above 93.00.
- Mixed macroeconomic data releases from the US failed to trigger a market reaction.
The AUD/USD pair edged lower during the Asian session before going into a consolidation phase around 0.7330 during the European trading hours. With the greenback continuing to gather strength in the second half of the day, the pair came under renewed bearish pressure and was last seen trading at its lowest level since November at 0.7305, losing 0.5% on a daily basis.
RBA's publication weighs on AUD
In the minutes of its July policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reiterated that policymakers remain committed to maintaining highly supportive monetary conditions. Assessing the RBA's publication, "we now expect the RBA to reverse its taper decision at its August meeting," noted Goldman Sachs analysts. "Instead, we expect the RBA to continue QE bond purchases at a pace of A$5bn/week once the current tranche ends in September, before ultimately starting to taper in November 2021."
On the other hand, the greenback continues to outperform its rivals as risk-off flows retain control of financial markets. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is rising 0.33% on the day at 93.13.
The only data from the US showed on Tuesday that Housing Starts increased by 6.3% in June. On a negative note, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Nonmanufacturing Index edged lower to 53.1 in July from 59.6 in June.
On Wednesday, Westpac Leading Index and June Retail Sales data will be featured in the Australian economic docket.
Technical levels to watch for