AUD/USD Price Analysis: Further decline below 0.7100 remains on the cards, NFP awaited

• AUD/USD attracted fresh sellers on Friday and dropped to over a two-week low.
• The overnight decisive break below an ascending trend-line favours bearish traders.
• Bears now await the release of the closely-watched US monthly jobs report (NFP). 

The AUD/USD pair remained on the defensive and languished near the lowest level since December 22, around mid-0.7100s heading into the North American session.

The pair did attempt a minor recovery during the early part of the trading on Friday, though struggled to capitalize on the move despite modest US dollar weakness. This comes on the back of the recent repeated failures near the 100-DMA and the overnight decisive break below a one-month-old ascending trend-line, which favours bearish traders.

The negative outlook is reinforced by the fact that technical indicators on the daily chart have again started drifting into bearish territory. Investors, however, seemed reluctant to place aggressive bets, preferring rather to wait on the sidelines ahead of the release of the closely-watched US monthly jobs data – popularly known as the NFP report.

Nevertheless, the technical set-up support prospects for a further near-term depreciating move towards testing the 0.7100 round-figure mark. Some follow-through selling should pave the way for a further downfall and drag the AUD/USD pair back towards challenging 2021 low,s around the key 0.7000 psychological mark touched early December.

On the flip side, attempted recovery moves might now confront resistance and meet with a fresh supply near the daily swing high, around the 0.7175-80 region. This, in turn, should cap the upside near the ascending trend-line support breakpoint, currently around the 0.7200 mark. This should act as a key pivotal point for short-term traders.

A sustained strength beyond might trigger a short-covering move and push the AUD/USD pair back towards the 0.7255-60 region, or the 100-day SMA barrier. A subsequent move up will negate the negative bias and pave the way for a move towards the next relevant hurdle near the 0.7340-45 region en-route the 0.7375-80 zone and the 0.7400 round-figure mark.

AUD/USD daily chart

Technical levels to watch