China services PMI prints at 17-month high, but the AUD/USD is unimpressed

The Caixin data released today showed China's services sector accelerated to a 17-month high in December.

The services PMI rose to 53.4 in December on a seasonally adjusted basis from 53.1 in November.

However, the Aussie dollar, a proxy for China, stands unimpressed. The AUD/USD pair surrendered gains to trade flat on the day around 0.7282 levels.

The pair clocked a high of 0.7303 earlier today on the back of the dovish Fed minutes. The retreat from the session highs also marks the failure at 0.73 (zero figure + 38.2% fib of Dec 14 high - Dec 23 low).

Ahead in the day, the pair is at the mercy of the overall demand for the US dollars and US ADP data and ISM non-manufacturing data.

AUD/USD Technical Levels

A break above 0.73 (zero figure + 38.2% fib of Dec 14 high - Dec 23 low) would open the door to 0.7342 (50% fib) and 0.7385 (61.8% fib). On the other hand, a breakdown of support at 0.7273 (session low) could yield a re-test of 0.7246 (23.6% fib), under which the losses could be extended to 0.72 (zero figure).