AUD/USD sits near session tops, around 0.6865-70 region

• AUD/USD staged a goodish intraday bounce from the 0.6800 neighbourhood.
• The upbeat market mood extended some support to the perceived riskier aussie.
• A softer tone around the US bond yields undermined the USD and remained supportive.

The AUD/USD pair built on its intraday bounce from the Asian session lows and was last seen trading near the top end of its daily range, above mid-0.6800s.

The pair opened with a modest bearish gap on the first day of a new trading week, albeit managed to attract some dip-buying just ahead of the 0.6800 round-figure mark. The uptick was supported by a positive move across the global equity markets, which tend to benefit the perceived riskier Australian dollar.

The financial markets have been surprisingly resilient to a surge in the number of new coronavirus cases in some countries, including the United Stages. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, though did little to shake the upbeat market mood.

Meanwhile, an improvement in the global risk sentiment dented the US dollar's relative safe-haven status. This coupled with a mildly weaker US Treasury bond yields further undermined the USD demand and remained supportive of the AUD/USD pair's intraday bounce of around 60 pips.

The pair was last seen hovering near session tops, around the 0.6870 region. Any subsequent move up is likely to confront some resistance near 200-hour SMA, around the 0.6890 level, which is closely followed by Friday's swing high, around the 0.6910 region. A convincing breakthrough the mentioned barriers might be seen as a fresh trigger for bullish traders and pave the way for a further near-term appreciating move for the AUD/USD pair.

Technical levels to watch