AUD/USD struggles near 2-week lows, around 0.7100 handle

   •  Today’s dismal NAB survey result adds to Lowe’s overnight dovish shift.
   •  A follow-through USD buying further adds to the downward pressure. 
   •  The bearish pressure is unlikely to ease amid absent market-moving data.

The AUD/USD pair remained under some selling pressure and was seen struggling near two-week lows, around the 0.7100 handle.

The pair held on the defensive through the Asian session and added to the overnight slump, triggered by a dovish shift by the RBA Governor Philip Lowe, following the release of yet another gloomy business sentiment survey.

The National Australia Bank's (NAB) quarterly business survey results showed that confidence fell to just 1 in the last quarter of 2018, down from the previous reading 3, and the current conditions assessment also fell to 16 from 21 previous.  

Meanwhile, bearish traders seemed rather unaffected by the recent positive development in the US-China trade talks, rather took cues from the continuation of the recent US Dollar rally, despite a dovish FOMC message last week. 

The pair's inability to register any recovery clearly indicates that the recent bearish pressure might still be far from over and hence, a follow-through weakness, amid absent market moving economic releases, now looks a distinct possibility.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the 0.7080-75 region, below which the pair is likely to accelerate the fall towards challenging the key 0.70 psychological mark with some intermediate support near the 0.7045-40 horizontal zone.

On the flip side, any attempted recovery might now confront some fresh supply near the 0.7130-35 region, which if cleared might trigger a short-covering bounce and assist the pair to head towards reclaiming the 0.7200 handle.