AUD/USD attempts a break above 0.6800 on upbeat Aussie Services PMI, RBA policy in focus

• AUD/USD is aiming to cross 0.6800 on higher-than-expected Aussie Services PMI data.
• The RBA may announce a fourth consecutive interest rate hike by 50 bps to tame inflation.
• An upbeat US NFP data has driven the DXY above the significant hurdle of 110.00.

The AUD/USD pair is sensing less-confident barricades around 0.6800 in the early Tokyo session. A follow-up buying has been witnessed after a gap-down move as oscillators turned extremely oversold on a lower timeframe. Now, the release of the upbeat Aussie Services PMI data has strengthened the antipodean.

The economic data has been released at 50.2, higher than the consensus and the prior release of 49.6. Adding to that, the Australian Industry Group (AIG) has reported a significant uptick in the Performance of Construction Index data. The macro data has released at 47.9 vs. 45.3 released earlier.

This week, the entire focus will remain on the interest rate decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which will release on Tuesday. Taking into account that price pressures have not displayed any exhaustion signals yet in the Aussie economy, the RBA will announce a fourth consecutive 50 basis points (bps) rate hike. This will step up the Official Cash Rate (OCR) to 2.35%.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) has overstepped the prior week’s high and has touched an intraday high above the psychological resistance of 110.00. The DXY is aiming higher as odds of a bumper rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) are soaring significantly. After upbeat US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data, the Fed is extremely delighted and may move the interest rate needle higher unhesitatingly. It is important to note that the US markets are closed on Monday on account of Labor Day.