AUD/USD retreats to 0.6000 area as market sentiment sours

• US Dollar Index rebounds to 101.50 area ahead of US session.
• US stock index futures fall into the negative territory.
• US Durable Goods Orders in February is expected to decline by 0.8%.

The AUD/USD pair extended its recovery into the fourth straight day on Wednesday and touched a fresh weekly high of 0.6073 before erasing a large portion of its gains ahead of the American session. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.6002, still adding 0.8% on a daily basis.

The souring market sentiment seems to be making it difficult for the risk-sensitive AUD to find demand in the last hour. Major European equity indexes slumped into the negative territory as the positive impact of the US announcement of a $2 trillion stimulus package started to fade away on Wednesday. Furthermore, US stock index futures made a sharp U-turn with the S&P 500 futures erasing 1% on the day.

DXY rebounds to 101.50

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which dropped to a session low of 101.05, is now trading near the 101.50 mark with small daily losses as the greenback is finding demand as a relatively safer alternative.

In the second half of the day, February Durable Good Orders data from the US will be looked upon for fresh impetus. Markets expect the data to come in at -0.8% following January's reading of -0.2%.

There won't be any significant macroeconomic data releases featured in the Australian economic docket on Thursday and the USD's market valuation is likely to continue to drive the pair's action.

Technical levels to watch for