AUD/JPY rally stalls around 6-week high on downbeat Australia consumer confidence

• The AUD/JPY pair’s pause after recent rally gets additional support from downbeat Westpac Consumer Confidence for Australia.
• Geopolitical headlines concerning the Middle East and North Korea challenge risk tone.
• A light economic calendar keeps market focus on trade/political news.

Downbeat numbers for Australia’s consumer confidence offered an additional reason for the AUD/JPY pair to rethink on its latest run-up while the quote ticks around 73.70 during early Wednesday.

Australia’s Westpac Consumer Confidence for September month lagged well behind 3.6% prior to -1.7%. Rising concerns about the economy and the global backdrop came out as the major reasons for the pessimism.

The pair earlier rose to six-week high with the optimism surrounding the US-China trade talks providing an initial boost amid a lack of major political challenges and market’s risk-on sentiment.

Other than data, the latest headlines concerning geopolitical risk emanating from the Middle East and North Korea, coupled with a lack of US-China trade news, might also have weighed on the pair.

With the economic calendar having fewer details to watch, except China’s M2 Money Supply and New Loans, traders will keep an eye over trade/political developments for fresh impulse.

Technical Analysis

Unless breaking a five-week-old rising trend-line, around 73.90, prices are less likely to aim for mid-July top nearing 76.15. Alternatively, signal by 12-bar moving average convergence and divergence (MACD) indicator favors the pair’s declines to 72.90 and then to an upward sloping trend-line since August 25 around 72.20.