FxWirePro: AUD/USD dragged lower amid downbeat Australia Retail Sales and renewed risk-off wave

Chart - Courtesy Trading View 

AUD/USD was trading 0.33% lower on the day at 0.7036 at around 05:45 GMT.

Aussie remains 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%.

Further, 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 expectations should limit downside in the pair. Focus now on the interest rate decision by the Fed.

Technical indicators shows signs of a bearish shift. Price action hovers around 200H MA, decisive break below will plummet prices further. Major weakness only below 21-EMA.