On Friday, the AUD/USD currency pair pulled back from the session highs of about 0.6221 to trade at about 0.6204. In the 60-minute chart, the currency pair trades within a descending channel formation.

The currency pair has since traded a few levels below the 100-hour moving average line. Friday’s pullback prevented the pair from advancing into the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.

AUD/USD Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the AUD/USD currency pair trades during a relatively busy period in the U.S. market. On Thursday, the U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending December 27 fell significantly lower to 211k, down from the preceding week’s equivalent of 222k, beating the forecasted claim count of 220k. The continuing claims for the week ending December 20, also outshone the forecast of 1.89 million with a tally of 1.844 million, down from 1.896 million.

The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for December also exceeded expectations of 48.3 with a reading of 49.4, while the construction spending for November missed the expected (MoM) change of 0.3% with a change of 0%.

Earlier in the week, the Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index for December missed the expectation of 42.5 with a reading of 36.9, while the pending home sales for November outshone the forecasted (MoM) change of 0.7% with a change of 2.2%.

Elsewhere, the U.S. housing price index for October missed the expected (MoM) change of 0.5% with a change of 0.4%. In Australia, the Judo Bank Manufacturing PMI for December missed the forecast of 48.2 with a reading of 47.8.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the AUD/USD currency pair trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. The 14-hour RSI has recently pulled back to avoid rallying into the overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to stretch the current pullback towards 0.6186 or lower to 0.6166. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about 0.6221 or higher at 0.6240.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the AUD/USD currency pair trades within a sharply descending channel formation. The 14-day RSI also supports a long-term bearish bias after plummetting into the oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to ride the current run of declines toward 0.6122 or lower to 0.6036. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about 0.6273 or higher at 0.6366.