AUD/USD finds support ahead of 0.78, consolidates daily losses

• DXY extends gains for the second straight day.
• AUD/USD loses more than 30 pips.
• JOLTS Job Openings & IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index data awaited.

After closing the first trading day of the week with modest losses, the AUD/USD pair started the day on a weak note on Tuesday and continued to push lower. As of writing, the pair was trading a little above the fresh weekly low that it set earlier in the session at 0.7810, and was down 0.28% at 0.7822.

Today's drop seems to be a product of the ongoing recovery seen in the US Dollar Index. The DXY, which was able to close the day above the 92 mark on Monday, gained further traction today and rose to its highest level since late December at 92.35. At the moment, the index is at 92.33, up 0.27% on the day. Later in the session, JOLTS Job Openings & IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index data will be released from the United States. Moreover, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will be delivering a speech at Cargill Headquarters in Minnesota.

Kashkari is likely to adopt a dovish tone in case he touches on the monetary policy outlook but that shouldn't be a surprise to the markets as he voted against the rate hike in December. Hence, the technical rise of the DXY shouldn't be interrupted. 

In the early trading hours of the Asian session on Wednesday, the National Australia Bank is going to release its Business Conditions and Business Confidence indexes.

Technical outlook

The first technical hurdle for the pair could be seen at 0.7870 (Jan. 8 high) ahead of 0.7965 (Sep. 24 high) and 0.8000 (psychological level). On the downside, supports are located at 0.7815/10 (Jan. 4 low/daily low), 0.7740 (100-DMA/200-DMA) and 0.7650 (Dec. 21 low).