• AUD/USD holds lower ground near intraday low, fades the previous day’s bounce off weekly low.
• Australia Trade Balance improved in October, RBA Bulletin remains elusive.
• Mixed signals from China, Russia and the US test traders amid a light calendar elsewhere and the pre-Fed blackout.

AUD/USD stays pressured around the intraday low near 0.6720, paying little heed to Aussie data during early Thursday. Not only the unimpressive trade data from Australia but mixed comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) quarterly Bulletin and risk catalysts also restrict the Aussie pair’s immediate moves.

That said, Australian Trade Balance for October improved to 12,217M versus 1,155M expected and 12,444 prior. Further details suggest that the Imports and Exports both dropped 1.0% versus expectations of rising by 2.0% and 1.0% in that order.

Additionally, the quarterly Bulletin from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) failed to provide any clear directions to the AUD/USD pair traders as it highlights the importance of education while praising the economic transition due to the easing of Covid-linked restrictions.

Other than the data, the mixed clues from the geopolitical front appear to restrict the AUD/USD pair’s immediate moves. The reason could be linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat of using nuclear weapons and comments from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggesting easing the risks of Moscow using nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, China’s gradual easing of the Zero-Covid policy appears as a passive reopening and struggles to impress the bulls.

Amid these plays, US Treasury yields lick their wounds and the stock futures print mild losses by the press time.

Moving on, a light calendar and mixed signals from the qualitative catalysts might restrict short-term AUD/USD moves. Also likely to challenge the pair’s immediate momentum could be a policy-driven blackout of the Fed officials ahead of next week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Even so, US Initial Jobless Claims, expected to rise by 230K versus 225K prior during the week ended on December 02, may entertain the traders.

Technical analysis

Unless breaking the 100-DMA, around 0.6680 by the press time, the AUD/USD bears are off the table. It’s worth noting, however, that the upside room also appears limited as a convergence of the two-week-old ascending trend line and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level of the June-October downside, near 0.6860, challenge the bulls.