Upbeat China trade numbers fail to lift AUD/USD

• China trade surplus expands more than expected.
• Still, Aussie dollar remains under pressure.

China reported a sharp rise in the trade surplus in December, however, the positive data has failed to put a bid under the AUD/USD pair.

The currency pair ran peeped above 0.79 earlier today but ran into sellers at 0.7905. As of writing, AUD/USD is trading largely unchanged on the day at 0.7890 levels.

China exports (CNY terms) rose 10.8 percent in December, beating the estimate of 7.4 percent. Meanwhile, imports jumped 18.7 percent vs. forecast of 11.8 percent growth. This resulted in a trade surplus of CNY 287 billion (estimate: CNY 254 billion).

Aussie, despite being considered a proxy for China, has barely moved following the data release. The lackluster reaction could be due to overbought conditions as shown by the daily RSI.

AUD/USD Technical Levels

FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik details the technical picture as follows-

The short-term technical picture is bullish, as the pair holds above a modestly bullish 20 SMA, while technical indicators have advanced to fresh one-week highs, maintaining their bullish slopes. The immediate resistance is the mentioned October high of 0.7896, with large spots suspected above it that once triggered will only fuel the dominant bullish trend.

Support levels: 0.7830 0.7800 0.7770

Resistance levels: 0.7895 0.7920 0.7945