AUD/USD Higher Amid Sluggish Markets, Light Data Calendar

The AUD/USD pair’s prices seesaw around 0.7125-20 during early Tuesday morning in Asia, having reversed most of Friday’s losses the previous day.

The risk barometer cheered multiple upbeat catalysts from home to post notable gains at the week’s start. However, a light calendar and the market’s wait for the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Thursday may test the momentum traders looking forward.

Recently, the US-Japan trade announcements to cut tariffs on Japanese steel and fight excess output battled the Sino-American tensions over the Phase 1 deal to confuse the risk barometer pair. Also challenging the AUD/USD traders are the mixed performance of equities and the US Treasury yields.

On Monday, Australia’s TD Securities Inflation rose past 0.2% to 0.4% in January while ANZ Job Advertisements improved to -0.3% versus the revised down prior figures of -5.8%. Further, the AiG Performance of Services Index also improved past 49.6 to 56.2 whereas Q4 Retail Sales output flashed record growth of 8.2% in Q4 2021 versus 8.1% prior. Hence, AUD data offered a good start to the bulls.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the full reopening of the international borders for fully vaccinated visa holders from February 21. Also contributed to the AUD/USD rebound were the recent positive comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin as he said, Russia will do all it can to find middle grounds that suit everyone.

Moving on, National Australia Bank’s (NAB) Business Conditions and Business Confidence for January will decorate the economic calendar ahead of the US Goods Trade Balance for December.

Given the absence of major data and mixed concerns in the market, mostly positive, not to forget the shift in attention from hawkish central bank story to trade, AUD/USD prices are likely to continue grinding higher. The AUD/USD pair’s recovery moves from 0.7050-45 horizontal area needs validation from 50-DMA level surrounding 0.7165.