AUD/USD stalls recent impressive rally just ahead of 0.80 handle

The AUD/USD pair faded Australian jobs data-led knee-jerk bullish spike closer to the key 0.80 psychological mark and seems to have stalled it's recent impressive rally to fresh 26-month highs.

The pair failed to build on early up-move, led by mostly in-line Australian jobs data, and retreated from higher levels as traders seemed inclined to take some profits off the table, amid extremely overbought conditions and especially after the recent upsurge of 400-pips over the past two weeks. 

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In absence of any big positive surprise from today's employment details, a modest pickup in the US Dollar demand further collaborated to the pair's minor pull-back from the highest level since May 2015. Moreover, the current positive bias surrounding the US Treasury bond yields could also be one of the factors weighing on higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie. 

However, a mildly positive trading sentiment around based metals continued lending support to commodity-linked currencies and limited further downside, at least for the time being. 

Traders now look forward to today's second-tier US economic releases - weekly jobless claims, Philly Fed manufacturing index and CB's leading index for some fresh impetus. 

Technical levels to watch

Currently trading around 0.7930 region, immediate support is seen near 0.7910-0.7900 area, which if broken could trigger a near-term corrective slide towards 0.7930 horizontal level with some intermediate support near 0.7865 area.

On the upside, the mid-0.7900s region now seems to act as immediate resistance, above which the pair is likely to make a fresh attempt towards reclaiming the 0.80 handle before extending its near-term upward trajectory.