Australian Dollar extends slump toward 0.6000 as tariff anxiety deepens in Monday trade

• AUD/USD continues to sink in Monday’s US session, trading near the 0.6000 region after earlier stalling a brief Asian recovery.

• US-China trade standoff intensifies with more tariffs; Trump mulls 90-day pause for others, Australia still at risk.

• Bearish momentum persists with oversold signals building; resistance seen near 0.6100, while the pair holds mid-range.
  
  

The AUD/USD pair remains under sustained pressure during Monday’s American session, holding near the 0.6000 zone after a short-lived rebound in Asia. The pair has extended its decline from Friday’s deep losses as risk sentiment remains sour amid continued tariff escalation between the United States and China. 

US President Donald Trump’s aggressive stance highlighted by a new executive order imposing a 34% levy on Chinese imports  has sparked fears of a broader trade war. Meanwhile, hopes for a tariff reprieve were dashed after the White House denied reports of a 90-day pause, leading markets back into risk-off mode. 

From a technical standpoint, the pair remains deeply bearish with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) in oversold territory and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) confirming renewed downward pressure.

• Tensions between the US and China escalated after President Trump’s latest trade decree prompted Beijing to retaliate with 34% tariffs. Despite early reports hinting at a 90-day pause in broader tariffs, the White House firmly refuted the claim, calling it misinformation.

• Equities initially trimmed losses on speculation of a softer stance but quickly reversed after official denials. Wall Street fell sharply again with the Dow Jones shedding more than 1.5% and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq tracking similar losses before recovering.

• The Australian Dollar remains heavily exposed to Chinese trade dynamics, and due to tariff threats mounting, market participants are increasingly pricing in aggressive easing by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

• China’s Foreign Ministry rejected the US approach, labeling it coercive and unconstructive, as the trade dispute shows no signs of resolution. Trump’s insistence on solving the trade imbalance before any deal adds further uncertainty.

• The AUD’s failure to build on earlier gains reflects waning confidence in global growth prospects with commodities and risk currencies falling in tandem.

The technical backdrop for AUD/USD remains decisively bearish on Monday. Price action is hovering near the middle of the day’s range, having bounced slightly off earlier lows. Still, bearish momentum remains entrenched with the MACD printing a fresh red bar and maintaining a clear sell signal. The RSI sits at 25, deep within oversold territory, albeit with a slightly softer decline compared to Friday.

Despite the downward pressure, some mixed signals have emerged. The Commodity Channel Index (CCI), surprisingly, points to a possible oversold bounce, while the Bull/Bear Power remains flat, hinting at temporary consolidation.

The broader trend remains negative, confirmed by a clean sweep of selling signals across major moving averages. The 10-day EMA, alongside the 20-day, 100-day and 200-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), are all aligned lower, reinforcing the dominant downtrend.