AUD/USD loses recovery momentum ahead of 0.6800, trades around 0.6780

• Uninspiring data from Australia weigh on AUD on Friday.
• US Dollar Index continues to hold above 98.30.
• US-China trade uncertainty is likely to keep pair under pressure.

The AUD/USD pair continued to push lower during the Asian trading hours on Friday and touched its worst level since mid-October at 0.6762 but staged a technical recovery ahead of the American session. As of writing, the pair was up 0.1% on the day at 0.6775.

AUD weakens on dismal data

The data published by Australia's Housing Industry Association on Friday showed that New Home Sales in October declined by 0.5% in October and missed the market expectation for an increase of 6.6% by a wide margin. Other data from Australia revealed that Private Sector Credit grew only 0.1% in October and fell short of analysts' estimate of +0.3% to hurt the AUD. 

Meanwhile, the uncertainty surrounding the US-China trade talks after President Donald Trump signed two bills supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrators into law to further escalate the tensions continues to weigh on the demand for trade-sensitive antipodeans. 

On the other hand, the upbeat Durable Goods Orders and Gross Domestic Product data from the US earlier this week provided a boost to the greenback to keep the bearish pressure on the pair intact. After climbing to its highest level in two weeks at 98.44 on Wednesday, the US Dollar Index has gone into a consolidation phase and has been fluctuating between 98.30 and 98.40 as the thin trading conditions due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the US force markets to remain subdued. 

Technical levels to watch for

AUD/USD