AUD/USD in stasis around 0.74, upbeat Aussie trade data fails to lift spirits

• Australia trade surplus widened in June but is offering little help to the Aussie dollar. 
• The escalating US-China trade war is likely hurting the AUD. 

Australia June trade surplus bettered estimates, but the upbeat data has failed to put a bid under the Aussie dollar, leaving the AUD/UD pair flat lined around 0.7405.

The Sino-US trade tensions are likely keeping the gains under check. The US President Trump upped the ante on trade war on Wednesday by proposing higher 25 percent tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.

The increase from a previously proposed 10 percent duty, if confirmed, could yield a retaliatory action from China, leading to further escalation of trade war.

Consequently, the Aussie dollar is showing no signs of life despite a wider trade surplus. Another school of thought says the trade data does not impact RBA expectations and hence is not having any impact on the Aussie pairs.

At press time, the currency pair is changing hands at 0.7405 and could crater below 0.74 if the Chinese currency slides on trade tensions.

AUD/USD Technical Levels

Resistance: 0.7429 (previous day's high), 0.7454 (50-day MA), 0.7484 (July 10 high).

Support: 0.7370 (July 27 low), 0.7318 (July 20 low), 0.73 (psychological level).