AUD/USD remains capped below 0.76 handle despite of upbeat Chinese data

The AUD/USD pair continued gaining traction for the further consecutive session, albeit struggled to build on early momentum to reclaim the 0.7600 handle. 

Today's upbeat Chinese economic data dump, with GDP growth, industrial growth, fixed asset investment and retail sales, all surpassing consensus estimates and providing an initial boost to the China-proxy Australian Dollar. 

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The pair also benefitted from positive trading sentiment surrounding commodity space, especially copper, but lacked further conviction amid escalating geopolitical tensions, which tends to drive flows away from riskier / higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie. 

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Later during the NA session, the release of Empire State Manufacturing Index from the US would now be looked upon for some short-term trading impetus. In the meantime, broader market risk-sentiment would continue to be a key determinant of the pair's movement amid holiday thinned liquidity conditions during European trading session.

Technical levels to watch

Momentum above the key 0.7600 hurdle is likely to confront resistance at 50-day SMA near 0.7620-25 region, which if cleared is likely to accelerate the up-move towards 0.7665-70 horizontal resistance ahead of the next major barrier near 0.7690-0.7700 zone.

On the downside, weakness below 0.7575-70 immediate support might continue to find some buying interest around 100-day SMA near 0.7555 region, below which the pair is likely to head back towards testing the 0.7500 psychological mark support.