FX Breakout Monitor: AUD tries to get something going

Today's FX Breakout Monitor

The hoped for US-China trade-deal is getting priced more like a done deal at this point, as bonds swooned and US equity futures ripped to new historic highs in the wake of this morning’s announcement from Chinese official sources that the US and China have agreed to lift. The reaction in currencies markets was clear if rather constrained – the JPY was sharply weaker and the USD was initially weaker but firmed later.

So as we watch the follow-on reaction to this latest round of trade-related “news” unfold, it is interesting to note the divergent trajectories of two USD pairs: AUDUSD (still close to the upside breakout level after never achieving a follow-on rally after the breaks higher from last week) and USDJPY, which is still mulling an upside break for the greenback as US yields poke on new highs for the cycle here. Continued trade-deal hopes, risk sentiment melt-up and rising yields could see the USD moving in different directions in these crosses. Avoiding the USD, AUD also looks interesting versus the Euro, as EURAUD saw a successful break lower last week that is trying to follow through lower here below the 49-day low as well (see chart).

Elsewhere, momentum traders may have generally low conviction after such a high percentage of recent signals have failed, but the breakdown in EURSEK over the last couple of sessions – now extending to a 49-day low intraday today, looks interesting as well.

Today’s Breakout Highlight: EURAUD
AUD strength has been prominent in recent sessions and US-China trade headlines looks supportive here for further AUD resilience. EURAUD has taken a distinct turn for the worse in recent sessions and broke lower already last week locally, with a larger break of the 49-day low close quite clearly etched on the chart as well, should the smaller currencies continue to perform well against the euro here on ongoing optimism.