For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the AUD declined 0.92% against the USD and closed at 0.7930 on Friday.
LME Copper prices rose 0.6% or $39.0/MT to $7066.0/MT. Aluminium prices rose 0.5% or $10.0/MT to $2228.0/MT.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 0.7926, with the AUD trading a tad lower against the USD from Friday’s close.
Overnight data indicated that Australia’s AiG performance of services index climbed to a level of 54.9 in January, compared to a level of 52.0 in the previous month, thus adding further evidence of a strengthening economy.
Elsewhere in China, Australia’s largest trading partner, the Caixin/Markit services PMI unexpectedly advanced to a level of 54.7 in January, confounding market expectations for a drop to a level of 53.5 and marking the sharpest increase since May 2012. In the prior month, the PMI had registered a reading of 53.9.
The pair is expected to find support at 0.7873, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 0.782. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 0.7997, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 0.8068.
Going forward, Australia’s trade balance and retail sales data, both for December, slated to release overnight, would be on investors’ radar.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
