AUD/USD consolidates below 0.80 handle, awaits RBA for fresh impetus

The AUD/USD pair remained under some selling pressure through early NA session and is currently placed at session lows around the 0.7965-60 region. 

A slight disappointment from today's release of Chinese manufacturing and services PMI prints, down to 51.4 and 54.5 in July from 51.7 and 54.9 in June, respecitively, dented demand for the China-proxy Australian Dollar. Adding to this, a pick-up in the US Dollar demand, led by a modest recovery in the US Treasury bond yields further weighed on higher-yielding currencies and collaborated to the pair's retracement at the start of a new trading week. 

Meanwhile, traders also seemed to lighten their bullish bets ahead of the RBA monetary policy decision, due to be announced during Asian session on Tuesday. Although the central bank is widely expected to maintain status quo, investors would be taking cues from the forward guidance in the accompanying monetary policy statement. 

   •  RBA guidance is on a lighter side - AmpGFX

Apart from the RBA decision, the keenly watched NFP data on Friday would also contribute towards determining the next leg of directional move for the major. 

Meanwhile, today's US economic docket features the release of Chicago PMI and existing home sales data, which would be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical outlook

Valeria Bednarik, Chief Analyst at FXStreet writes: "The 4 hours chart shows that the price stands a few pips below a bullish 20 SMA, whilst the RSI indicator heads nowhere around its 50 level as the Momentum aims higher right below its 100 level, all of which reflects the absence of directional strength. Still, the greenback looks unattractive,  limiting chances of a downward move, even if upcoming US data beats expectations."