FxWirePro: AUD/JPY extends downside for the third straight session, eyes cloud support

Chart - Courtesy Trading View 

AUD/JPY was trading 0.46% lower on the day at 91.57 at around 06:10 GMT, near-term outlook is bearish.

The pair is grinding lower for the third consecutive session and is on track to test daily cloud support at 91.37.

Australian dollar under pressure after dismal Australian Retail Sales data. Upbeat China PMIs fail to provide any relief.

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier on Tuesday showed monthly Retail Sales for Dec slipped to 3.9% vs. the expectations of -0.3% and the prior release of 1.4%.

On the other side, data from China showed NBS Manufacturing PMI printed at 50.1 vs. expected 49.8 and compared to a prior reading of 47.

China NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI also came in upbeat with a 54.4 figure compared to 51.0 expected and 41.6 previous readings.

Analysts expect that despite poor Retail Sales growth, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) might continue to hike interest rates further as Q4 Consumer Price Index (CPI) has refreshed multi-year highs at 7.8%.

Upbeat China data and hawkish RBA expectations should limit downside in the pair. Focus now on the interest rate decision by the Fed.

Major Support Levels: 

S1: 91.37 (Converged 55-EMA and Cloud top)

S2: 90.99 (21-EMA)

Major Resistance Levels: 

R1: 92.08 (5-DMA)

R2: 93.00 (200-DMA)

Summary: AUD/JPY finds strong support at daily cloud. Recovery attempts capped below 200-DMA. Minor trend as evidenced by GMMA indicator has turned bearish. Break below Ichi cloud could see major weakness.