AUD/USD off 3-week lows, but remains capped below 0.7900 handle

The AUD/USD pair recovered some of the early lost ground to three-week lows but struggled to move back above the 0.7900 handle and held in negative territory through the mid-European session.

With investors looking past Tuesday's upbeat JOLTS job openings data, which revived hopes for additional Fed rate hike action in 2017, the US Dollar lacked any strong follow through momentum and helped the pair to bounce off over 40-pips from session lows touched earlier during the Asian session. 

The pair, however, has failed to extend the recovery move beyond the 0.7900 handle amid prevalent risk-off environments, which was seen keeping a lid on demand for riskier/higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie. 

Next on tap would be the US economic docket, featuring the quarterly release of Prelim Nonfarm Productivity and Unit Labor Costs, which would be looked upon for some trading impetus ahead of the latest US inflation figures, due for release on Friday. 

   •  US: Underlying pace of productivity growth to remain subdued – Nomura

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained recovery above the 0.7910-15 region, the pair is likely to aim towards surpassing 0.7945-50 intermediate resistance and dart towards conquering the key 0.80 psychological mark. On the flip side, bears would be eyeing for weakness through session lows support near 0.7855 level, below which the fall could get extended towards 0.7830-25 area en-route 0.7795-90 support.