AUD/USD flat-lined as RBA minutes take the beaten path

• AUD/USD trades comatose around 50-day MA of 0.7662. 
• RBA minutes offer no hawkish/dovish surprise. 

The AUD/USD pair continues to trade in the sideways manner as the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) monetary policy meeting released today reiterated the cautious optimism about the economy. 

Key points

• Board noted A$ still in range held over past two-and-a-half years
• Any further rise in A$ would slow expected pick-up in inflation, economy
• Wage growth slower than expected in Q3, but appeared to have stabilized
• Leading indicators pointed to continued above-average growth in employment

There was little in the minutes that showed the central bank intends to move towards tightening cycle. Hence, the bulls have little incentive to buy the Aussie dollar. Meanwhile, the sharp technical recovery from the recent low of 0.7501 (Dec. 8 low) to 0.7695 (Friday's high) is keeping bears at the bay, thus leaving the pair flat-lined around its 50-day MA of 0.7662. 

AUD/USD Technical Levels

FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik writes-

"The bullish trend has lost momentum, but the scale still leans towards the upside as the pair met buying interest above the 0.7600 level late last week. Short-term, and according to the 4 hours chart, the pair has been bouncing repeatedly from a still bullish 20 SMA, while technical indicators lost directional strength, with the Momentum stuck around its 100 line, and the RSI around 62. As said above, the 0.7700 figure is a critical resistance level, with a break above it opening doors for a continued advance during the upcoming sessions toward the 0.7770 region."

Support levels: 0.7640 0.7600 0.7570

Resistance levels: 0.7700 0.7730 0.7770