AUD/USD rebounds to near 0.6900 on dovish PBOC, Jackson Hole in focus

• AUD/USD has picked bids around 0.6866 and has moved above 0.6900 on dovish PBOC policy.
• The PBOC has elevated its one-year and five-year PLR by 5 bps and 15 bps respectively.
• Clouds of uncertainty over the commentary from the Fed in Jackson Hole will keep the asset volatile.

The AUD/USD pair has given an upside break of the consolidation formed in a narrow range of 0.6866-0.6883 in the Asian session. The pair is attempting to overstep the immediate hurdle of 0.6900 confidently as the US dollar index (DXY) is sensing exhaustion signals after printing a fresh monthly high of 108.29.

The asset has got significant bids after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) elevated its one-year and five-year Prime Lending Rate (PLR) by 5 basis points (bps) and 15 bps respectively. A dovish stance was highly expected by the PBOC as the Chinese economy is facing the headwinds of shrinkage in economic activities, particularly in infrastructure, construction, and chemical manufacturing. It is worth noting that Australia is a leading trading partner to China. Therefore, a loose monetary policy by the PBOC is strengthening the antipodean.

Confusion ahead of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium has resulted in exhaustion in the DXY’s rally. Federal Reserve (Fed) policymakers are dictating mixed commentary as price pressures have trimmed and a slowdown in the pace of hiking interest rates is expected to dodge the consequences of liquidity shrinkage. On the other part, the annual inflation rate of 8.5% is still fairly far from the desired rate of 2%. Therefore, the clouds of uncertainty over the commentary from Fed chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium will keep the asset volatile.

Going forward, investors are awaiting the release of the US Durable Goods Orders data, which is expected to decline to 0.6% from the prior release of 2%. In times, when the US economy has already displayed an unchanged US core Consumer Price Index (CPI), a decline in the economic data is not lucrative for the DXY.