Australian Dollar, AUD/USD, Dow Jones – Asia Pacific Market Open
- Australian Dollar gained alongside Dow Jones and global stocks
- US-China trade war fears cooled, US eyeing 20% GDP growth?
- Asia Pacific equities may trade higher, denting the Japanese Yen
Australian Dollar Gained as Equities Ended Friday on an Upbeat
The sentiment-linked Australian and New Zealand Dollars were some of the best-performing major currencies on Friday. AUD/USD and NZD/USD climbed alongside the Dow Jones and S&P 500, which closed +1.91% and +1.69% respectively. Most of the upbeat tone in financial markets occurred during the Asia Pacific trading session and as Wall Street entered its final 2 hours of trade.
The world’s largest economies vowing on efforts to implement the ‘phase one’ trade deal seemed to help boost sentiment early in the day. This followed a rise in trade war fears after US President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility of raising tariffs against China for their handling of the coronavirus. Investors’ optimism weighed against the anti-risk Japanese Yen and similarly-behaving US Dollar.
In April, the United States lost over 20.5 million non-farm payroll positions as the unemployment rate soared. Yet this was not enough to dethrone the ‘risk-on’ tilt. The focus for investors seemed to be on the future instead of the present. Apple announced that it will be reopening some stores this week. Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that growth could pick up 20% in the second half of 2020.
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Friday’s Asia Pacific Trading Session
With that in mind, we may see Asia Pacific equities follow the rosy session on Wall Street as the week gets going. A lack of prominent economic event risk may place the focus for foreign exchange markets on risk appetite. In that case, should regional bourses rally, we may see the Australian Dollar resume its rally. That may likewise bode ill for the Japanese Yen and US Dollar.
Australian Dollar Technical Analysis
From a technical standpoint, AUD/USD paused its recent rise under key resistance. This seems to be a range between 0.6546 to 0.6570. Moreover, the break under rising support from March – blue lines on the 4-hour chart below - seems to have been invalidated. Pushing above resistance exposes 0.6646 – 0.6685. A turn lower may place the focus on key support which seems to be a boundary between 0.6368 – 0.6390
AUD/USD – 4-Hour Chart
--- Written by Daniel Dubrovsky, Currency Analyst for DailyFX.com
To contact Daniel, use the comments section below or @ddubrovskyFX on Twitter