AUD/USD tumbles into the Friday market open on the backfoot, aimed for 0.6350

• The AUD/USD accelerated intraday losses on Thursday.
• RBA’s Monetary Policy Statement due early in the Friday session.
• Hawkish comments from Fed Chairman Powell driving US Dollar flows.

The AUD/USD backslid on Thursday after a bullish rebound failed to materialize, with Aussie (AUD) bulls getting pushed away from the table by US Dollar (USD) flows that saw the Greenback rise after Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell delivered hawkish comments that caught the market off-guard.

Forex Today: Hawkish Powell boosts the Dollar and ends positive Streak in Wall Street

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has developed into a question mark for markets following Tuesday’s dovish rate hike. Despite a 25 basis point hike, the RBA appears hesitant on the back of softening data from the Australian economy, and investors are going to have a more difficult time successfully drawing a bead on where the RBA might step next.

Australia: RBA is seen keeping rates unchanged in December – UOB

Fed Chair Powell struck a surprisingly hawkish tone during a speech late Thursday, where the Fed head noted that the Fed has some concerns that they may not have achieved a suitably restrictive policy level in order to constrain inflation low enough, soon enough. Markets have broadly overloaded on their bets that the Fed has reached the end of its tightening cycle, and investors will have to grapple with a US central bank leaning heavier than most expected.

Fed’s Powell: We are not confident we are at a sufficiently restrictive stance

AUD/USD Technical Outlook

The Aussie’s bull run from last week looks truly over as the AUD/USD pares back all gains and sends the Greenback back on top. The AUD/USD is now falling below near-term median prices below the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) currently rotating into 0.6420, and the 50-hour SMA is set to confirm a bearish crossover of the longer moving average as price action accelerates into the downside.

The AUD/USD is now threatening to collapse back into a rough consolidation range that plagued intraday action through October’s trading, while a bullish recovery will first need to develop enough momentum to re-crack the 0.6400- handle.

AUD/USD Hourly Chart

AUD/USD Technical Levels