AUD/USD clings to strong gains near 0.7700 handle

   •  Trade war fears keep USD bulls on the back-foot.
   •  Neutral RBA decision did little to influence the momentum.

The AUD/USD pair regained positive traction on Tuesday and is now making a fresh attempt to build on its momentum beyond the 0.7700 handle.

The pair continues finding some decent support near mid-0.7600s and was now being supported by a subdued US Dollar price action, amid escalating trade tensions between the US and China.

Meanwhile, the pair had a rather muted reaction to the latest RBA monetary policy update, wherein the central bank left benchmark interest rates unchanged at 1.50%. In the accompanying rate statement, Governor Philip Lowe repeated that inflation is likely to remain low for some time but the negative factor was largely offset by the central bank's forecast for faster economic growth for 2018. 

Even a goodish uptick in the US Treasury bond yields, which tends to drive flows away from higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie, also did little to hinder the up-move, albeit might now contributing towards keeping a lid on any further strong gains. 

In absence of any major market moving economic releases from the US, the USD price dynamics might continue to act as an exclusive driver of the pair's momentum on Tuesday. 

Later in the day, comments by FOMC members - Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari and Governor Lael Brainard, would be scrutinized for some clues over the central bank's monetary policy outlook and might influence the USD demand ahead of this week's important macroeconomic releases. 

Technical levels to watch

A strong follow-through buying interest has the potential to continue boosting the pair further towards the 0.7745-50 supply zone. On the flip side, weakness back below 0.7680 level might negate prospects of any further gains and drag the pair back towards retesting an important support near mid-0.7600s.