The USD is at a crossroads ahead of CPI, while the AUD awaits RBA rate decision

Wait 5 sec.

FUNDAMENTAL OVERVIEW USD:The US dollar weakened across the board on Friday following a softer than expected NFP report, with the headline showing negative payroll growth and average hourly earnings missing forecasts by a notable margin.The data triggered a dovish repricing in interest rate expectations, with the probability of a September rate hike falling to 38%, compared with 54% before the release. Market pricing has normalised since then, with the probability of a September hike rising back to 48%.The reason for this whipsaw in expectations is that there was a significant loss of government jobs, which made the report look much softer than it actually was. The unemployment rate painted a different picture, falling further to 4.1%. Overall, the labour market remains on a better trajectory than it has been over the past three years.The next major event will be the US CPI report on Wednesday. The data will be critical for the September FOMC decision and the Jackson Hole Symposium. A hot report will likely trigger a rally in the US dollar, with traders increasing rate hike bets. A soft report, on the other hand, should reduce further the risk of Fed tightening and put more pressure on the greenbackAUD:On the AUD side, the RBA is expected to keep the Cash Rate unchanged tomorrow at 4.35% following a series of soft economic data. In fact, the labour market has eased faster than expected and the Q2 CPI came lower than RBA’s forecasts. At this meeting, the RBA will also release the updated SMP where unemployment is expected to be revised higher, while inflation lower.  The focus will likely be on the last paragraph of the Board’s statement where in June it said “monetary policy is well placed to respond to developments and the Board is focused on its mandate to deliver price stability and full employment. It will do what it considers necessary to achieve that outcome, including increasing the cash rate target further if required. Today’s policy decision was unanimous”. The consensus is for the Board to keep it unchanged maintaining the hawkish bias. A removal of “including increasing the cash rate target further if required” would be taken as a dovish surprise. The attention will then shift to the press conference for potential policy signals from RBA Governor Bullock. AUDUSD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS – DAILY TIMEFRAMEOn the daily chart, we can see that AUDUSDis trading near the key resistance zone around the 0.7085 level. That’s where we can expect the sellers to step in with a defined risk above the resistance to position for a drop into the 0.6835 level. The buyers, on the other hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to increase the bullish bets into the 0.72 handle next. AUDUSD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS – 4 HOUR TIMEFRAMEOn the 4 hour chart, the price action into the resistance looks to be forming a rising wedge. This is generally a reversal pattern with the base of the wedge as the first target. The sellers will want to see the price breaking below the bottom trendline to increase the bearish bets into new lows, while the buyers will continue to lean on the trendline with a defined risk below it to keep pushing into new highs. AUDUSD TECHNICAL ANALYSIS – 1 HOUR TIMEFRAMEOn the 1 hour chart, there’s not much we can add here as the sellers will look for opportunities around the resistance and on the break of the bottom trendline, while the buyers will be leaning on the trendline to keep targeting new highs or wait for a break above the resistance. The red lines define average daily range for today. UPCOMING CATALYSTSTomorrow, we have the RBA rate decision. On Wednesday, we have the US CPI report. On Thursday, we get the US PPI data and the latest US Jobless Claims figures. On Friday, we conclude the week with the US Retail Sales and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.