AUD/USD trims intraday losses, remains bearish below 0.6500

• On Thursday, AUD/USD comes under renewed selling pressure amid revival in dollar demand.
• Aggressive bets on the Fed rate hike cause a further rise in US bond yields and lift the dollar.
• The risk-off drive helps drive flows away from the risk-sensitive Aussie.

The pair AUD/USD recovers a few points from the daily low and rises to the 0.6480-0.6485 zone during the first part of the American session, although it is still down almost 0.60% on the day.

The US dollar regains positive traction on Thursday and sparks fresh selling around the AUD/USD pair, forcing the pair to reverse some of the overnight recovery move from its lowest level since April 2020. Recent comments from a group of FOMC members reaffirm expectations that the US central bank will continue to raise interest rates at a faster pace to curb inflation. This, in turn, triggers a further rise in US Treasury yields and helps revive demand for the dollar.

Apart from this, the risk aversion boost provides additional support to the safe haven dollar and helps to drive flows away from the risk sensitive Aussie. Prospects for more aggressive Fed policy tightening, coupled with growing concerns about a deeper global economic downturn, continue to dampen investors’ appetite for riskier assets. This is evident in the sea of ​​red in world equity markets, which tends to boost demand for the traditional haven of the dollar.

Turning to economic data, the final US GDP report showed that the world’s largest economy shrank 0.6% during the second quarter, matching the previous estimate. Separately, weekly jobless claims fell from 209,000 to 193,000 during the week ending Sept. 22. However, the data failed to provide a significant boost. That being said, the pickup in British pound demand is putting some pressure on the dollar and lends some support to the AUD/USD pair. However, the fundamental background continues to lean strongly in favor of the bears.

Technical levels to watch