FxWirePro: AUD/USD struggles for direction, Kennedy's comments fail to put a bid under the Aussie amid fresh US-China trade tensions

AUD/USD chart - Trading View 

AUD/USD was trading rangebound as traders struggled for direction. The pair made a session high of 0.7738 and low of 0.7712.

The pair was trading 0.18% higher on the day at 0.7735 at around 04:50 GMT after closing 0.22% lower in the previous session.

Upbeat comments on the economy from Australia's Treasury Secretary Kennedy failed to put a bid under the Aussie dollar as fresh tension surrounding US-China relations kept mood sour. 

"Australia's economy is recovering faster than expected, Kennedy said during his testimony to a Senate committee, adding that it's a consumption-led recovery. 

US President Joe Biden continued Donald Trump’s hard stand on Beijing during his first-ever telephonic conversation with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

China's Xi Jinping retaliated with a warning stating that confrontations will be a disaster for both the countries.

On the data front, Australian Consumer Inflation Expectations for February grew more than 3.4% forecast and prior to 3.7%.

Focus now will be on the US weekly jobless claims figures. Unemployment claims are expected to drop to 757,000 from 779,000. While, Continuing Claims are forecast to decrease to 4.49 million from 4.592 million.

Technical bias for the pair is bullish. Price action is holding above 21-EMA and momentum studies are bullish. Scope for test of 88.6% Fib at 0.7836.