AUD/USD well-bid for second straight session

The AUD/USD pair was seen building on Tuesday's recovery move beyond 0.7200 handle and has now jumped closer to Friday's multi-day tops. 

Currently trading around 0.7235-40 band, testing session peak, the pair continued gaining traction on Wednesday and shrugged off broad based US Dollar strength, led by Tuesday's upbeat US ISM manufacturing PMI print. 

Given Australia's strong ties with the world's second largest economy, stronger Chinese data has been the key factor supporting the pair's bid tone for the second consecutive session. Moreover, a positive sentiment surrounding the commodity space, especially Copper, is lending additional support to the commodity-linked currencies, including the Australian Dollar. 

Meanwhile, resumption of the US Treasury bond yields' upward trajectory might weigh on higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie, and might hinder further up-move for the major. 

Moving ahead, today's release of minutes from the FOMC meeting held on December 13-14 would grab the spotlight and help investors determine the next leg of directional move for the pair. 

Technical levels to watch

A follow through buying interest above 0.7250 resistance is likely to accelerate the recovery trend towards 0.7275 resistance before the pair aims towards reclaiming 0.7300 handle. On the downside, 0.7220 level now becomes immediate support to defend, which if broken is likely to drag the pair back below 0.7200 handle, towards testing 0.7185 support en-route multi-month lows support near 0.7160 region.