AUDUSD Trades Flat, Awaits Impetus for Direction

At the time of writing, the AUDUSD pair remained flat, trading near 0.71250.

During the Asian session, the National Australia Bank's Business Conditions index showed a sharp decline, dropping to 3 in January, down from 8 previously. However, the same institution index for Confidence improved notably from -12 to 3.

Analysts at OCBC said today that AUDUSD saw upside impetus on the back of the quarantine-free travel announcement and a set of firmer than expected retail sales data on Monday. However, the near-term prospects for the pair are choppy at best.

That view seems to be confirmed by the daily chart as the pair has not moved anywhere since September. The current resistance could be near 0.7170, with another selling area at 0.7310/20.

Alternatively, the support seems to be at this week's lows near 0.7070, and if not held, the pair could retest the most significant support at 0.70.

From the medium-term perspective, it looks like a double bottom pattern, with the support at 0.70 and the resistance near 0.7310. The full potential of this formation is 300 pips, thus targeting the 0.76 level.