AUD\/USD hovered near 0.7010 on Thursday, down 0.21% as the Australian dollar eased from a fresh monthly high. Risk appetite softened after reports of a drone attack on Saudi Arabia\u2019s Shaybah oil field and the withdrawal of some US diplomatic personnel from the Gulf region, fuelling concern about energy-supply disruption. West Texas Intermediate prices rose, a headwind for Australia as a net energy importer, although the slide was cushioned by a weaker US dollar and a relatively hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia.<\/p>\n\n
RBA officials pointed to persistent inflation pressure: Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said trimmed-mean inflation for the third quarter could exceed expectations, while Assistant Governor Christopher Kent argued neutral rates may be rising in Australia and globally ahead of the 3 November meeting. Support also came from stronger-than-expected Chinese third-quarter GDP. In the US, lower Treasury yields and remarks from Federal Reserve officials implying no urgency to raise rates at the 27\u201328 October meeting kept the greenback on the back foot, with focus turning to Friday\u2019s preliminary PMI releases. <\/p>\n\n
Technically, AUD\/USD was at 0.7016, above the 100-period SMA at 0.6996 and the 200-period SMA at 0.6978, with RSI just below 50; resistance sits at 0.7020 and 0.7037, while support is at 0.6996, 0.6994 and 0.6978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n