AUD/USD renews multi-month lows below 0.7230, eyes on FOMC

• AUD/USD stays on the back foot in the American trading hours.
• US Dollar Index extends rally to fresh multi-month highs above 93.20.
• FOMC will release the minutes of its July policy meeting at 1800 GMT.

The AUD/USD pair continued to push lower in the second half of the day on Wednesday and touched its lowest level since November at 0.7229. As of writing, the pair was down 0.2% on a daily basis at 0.7235.

Focus shifts to FOMC Minutes, Australia jobs report

The unabated USD strength remains the primary reason behind AUD/USD's ongoing decline. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which rose sharply on Tuesday, extended its rally and reached its strongest level since early April at 93.26. Currently, the DXY is up 0.12% on the day at 93.24.

In the absence of high-tier macroeconomic data releases, a more-than-1% increase seen in the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield seems to be helping the greenback outperform its rivals. 

Earlier in the day, the data published jointly by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that Housing Starts fell by 7% in July. However, the report also revealed that Building Permits increased by 2.6% in the same period.

Later in the session, the FOMC will release the minutes of its July policy meeting.

FOMC Minutes July Preview: More new questions than answers.

On Thursday, the July labour market report will be featured in the Australian economic docket. Investors expect the Unemployment Rate to edge higher to 5% from 4.9% in June with the Employment Change posting a decrease of 46.2K.

Technical levels to watch for