AUD/USD: bulls manage to defend 0.79 handle, for the time being

The AUD/USD pair came under some fresh selling pressure on Tuesday and reversed majority of its previous session's gains to 4-week tops. 

On Monday, the key US Dollar Index slumped to more than 16-month lows, on concerns over Hurricane Harvey's economic implications, and lifted the pair to its highest level since August 4.

Meanwhile, the up-move lacked any strong follow through momentum in wake of renewed geopolitical tensions in the Korean peninsula, which was seen benefitting the greenback's safe-haven appeal against perceived riskier currencies, including the Australian Dollar.

However, the prevalent positive trading sentiment around commodity space, especially copper, extended some support to commodity-linked currencies and helped the pair to recover around 30-pips from the 0.79 neighborhood. 

Currently trading around 0.7935 area, traders now look forward to the release of Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index from the US in order to grab some short-term trading opportunities. 

The key focus would remain on this week's important US macro data - GDP revision and the keenly watched NFP, which might influence Fed rate hike expectations and eventually determine the next leg of directional move for higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie. 

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Technical levels to watch

Immediate support remains near the 0.7900 handle, below which the pair is likely to accelerate the fall towards 0.7865 area (Thursday's low) before dropping to 50-day SMA support near the 0.7820-15 region. 

On the upside, 0.7960-65 zone is likely to act as immediate resistance, which if cleared might lift the pair beyond the key 0.80 psychological mark en-route August monthly highs resistance near the 0.8035-40 region.