AUD/USD bears attack 0.6600 amid risk aversion, Fed Minutes, US debt ceiling eyed

• AUD/USD holds lower grounds at weekly bottom after posting the biggest daily loss in a week.
• Risk appetite weakens after chatters that US Treasury requested agencies to delay payment while policymakers appear less optimistic of late.
• Fed Minutes, US default talks will be the key catalysts to watch for clear directions.

AUD/USD remains pressured around 0.6600 as market sentiment worsens on early Wednesday in Asia, amid fears of the US default, as well as hawkish Federal Reserve (Fed) concerns ahead of the Fed Minutes. Also challenging the Aussie pair is the mixed prints of Aussie data versus comparatively stronger US PMIs. However, hopes that the US policymakers will be able to avoid US default seem to put a floor under the Aussie pair prices.

Recently, US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy crossed wires, via Reuters, while suggesting no deal on the debt ceiling extension today but before June 01. Previously, Washington rolled out news stating the US Treasury has asked multiple agencies if they can delay the payment demands.

Elsewhere, the preliminary figures of the May monthly PMIs suggest that the US Services sector keeps outgrowing the manufacturing ones and fuelled the Composite PMI figure to the highest levels in a year. On the contrary, the Aussie activity numbers for the said month were less impressive.  The same joins the latest divergence in the market’s bets on the Federal Reserve (Fed) versus the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to exert downside pressure on the AUD/USD prices.

Apart from the US default fears and Fed concerns, the US-China tussles are also luring the Aussie pair bears, due to the Australia-China ties. Recently, Russia flaunts its ties with Beijing and that strengthens the global dislike for the dragon nation. Additionally, the US-China trade tussle continues, becoming an additional reason supporting the risk-off mood.

Amid these plays, Wall Street closed in the red and helped the US Dollar despite downbeat yields.

Moving on, there are no major data/events from Australia but the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) Monetary Policy Meeting and risk catalysts can entertain the risk-barometer pair during the early part of the day. Following that, the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes will be crucial to watch.

Technical analysis

A daily closing below one-month-old previous support, now resistance around 0.6625, directs AUD/USD towards the yearly low of around 0.6575.