AUD/USD sits comfortably above 0.80 handle

The AUD/USD pair, which tested the 0.80 handle during the early trading hours of the Asian session, gathered momentum during the day and took back the majority of yesterday's losses. As of writing, the pair was trading around 10 pips below its daily high at 0.8040 and was adding 0.15%.

Today's data from Australia suggested that the economy was continuing to improve. The Australian NAB business survey for August is, on balance, an upbeat report, pointing to near-term strength, particularly in employment creation, Andrew Hanlan, Senior Economist at Westpac, said wrote in a recent report and highlighted that according to the survey, employment conditions strengthened, rising 4pts to +11, the highest level since February 2008.

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The next data from Australia will be the September Westpac Consumer Confidence, which came in a -1.2% in August. A rise back into the positive area in consumer confidence could provide an additional boost to the aussie.

On the other hand, despite an ongoing rise in the US Treasury-bond yields, the US Dollar Index is having a difficult time staying above the 92 handle amid a lack of fundamental drivers that could support the index's recovery on Tuesday. After touching its daily high at 92.06, the DXY retreated and is now a tad below its opening level at 91.87. The next significant catalyst for the buck will be tomorrow's PPI data, which is expected to improve to 0.3% and 1.9% on a monthly and yearly basis respectively.

Technical outlook:

The RSI indicator on the daily graph once again turned north above the 50 mark, suggesting that the bullish momentum is gaining strength. With a daily close below 0.8000 (psychological level), the pair could fall further towards 0.7940 (50-DMA) and 0.7870 (Aug. 31 low). On the flip side, resistances could be seen at 0.8125 (Sep. 8 high), 0.8165 (May 14, 2015, high) and 0.8200 (psychological level).