AUD/USD extends losses toward fresh session low near 0.76 ahead of US PMI data

• Aussie suffers losses against its peers after RBA's monetary policy statement.
• US Dollar Index sticks to small gains above 94.
• Markit services PMI and ISM non-manufacturing PMI are coming up next.

The AUD/USD pair came under a modest selling pressure during the Asian session and continued to push lower as European, and later American, traders hit their desks. As of writing, the pair is trading at a fresh session low of 0.7610 and is down 0.5% on the day.

After keeping the policy rate steady at 1.5% as expected, the RBA published its monetary policy statement, which highlighted that the bank was pleased with the current valuation of the AUD. 

“The RBA also noted some new risks, as we anticipated, giving its press release a softer overall tone, in our view. We judge that in a somewhat more-uncertain world, the RBA does not want to add to potential instability by encouraging markets and media to speculate about the possibility of a rate hike, and view its prior communication about being a source of “stability and confidence,” Nomura analysts argued in a recently published report.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index continues to move sideways near the 94 mark amid a lack of catalysts that could impact the greenback's price action. Later in the session, both Markit and ISM will be publishing their PMI reports for the service sector. An expansion at a higher-than-expected pace for in this sector could help the DXY gain traction and break above its recent range, which could allow the bearish pressure on the AUD/USD pair strengthen.

Technical outlook

The immediate support for the pair aligns at 0.7590/0.7600 (50-DMA/psychological level) ahead of 0.7545 (20-DMA) and 0.7500 (psychological level). On the upside, resistances are located at 0.7680 (100-DMA), 0.7720 (200-DMA) and 0.7810 (Apr. 19 high).