AUD/USD: opens with a bearish gap ahead of Chinese and domestic data

AUD/USD is trading flat to the opening price of 0.7412 vs a close of 0.7424 from post nonfarm payrolls trade int he US on Friday.

Afte a spell of being one of the worst performers of late, weighed by Chinese data and metal prices, AUD/USD took advantage of the weaker dollar at the end of last week when nonfarm payrolls failed to satisfy markets considering the weak wages persist despite a stronger than expected US payrolls number. "Neither the payrolls report nor the Fedspeak managed to excite bond markets for more than a few hours on Friday," explained analysts at Westpac, adding, "US 10yr treasury yields trading around 2.35% during the latter part of the NY session, compared to 2.36% during the London morning." AUD/USD bounced off a four-month low of 0.7368 to 0.7427 and it remains better bid at the start of this week. 

Today could be busy for the Aussie, despite a bare looking calendar elsewhere. We have the March dwelling approvals along with the NAB business survey as domestic data while otherwise, we turn to China for further impetus and will be particularly of interest considering the poor run of data recently in the softer-than-expected Chinese PMIs. "The Apr trade balance is expected by the market survey to rebound to CNY35.85bn from CNY23.92bn in Mar as recent readings have been affected by the Lunar New Year," explained the analysts at Westpac within their economic wrap: Economic wrap and key events ahead - Westpac

AUD/USD levels

Valeria Bednarik, chief analyst at FXStreet explained that on a daily basis, technical indicators have bounced modestly from near oversold readings but remain within negative territory, whilst the 20 DMA heads south far above the current level. "In the 4 hours chart, technical indicators have corrected oversold conditions, but are also developing below their midlines, whilst the 20 SMA maintains a strong bearish slope a few pips above the current level. April's low at 0.7430 is not the immediate resistance, with chances of further short-term advances on a break above it. Nevertheless, the risk will remain towards the downside as long as the pair holds below the 0.7500 threshold."