A$ Threatening Another Test Of 0.6800

AUD/USD has remained under pressure for much of the afternoon session. We now sit at lows for the day at 0.6810 (-0.70%), eyeing another test of the 0.6800 level. We dipped briefly below this level on Friday evening. Below that is the 0.6760 region, where we have bounced off 4 times since the start of this month. On the topside, AUD/USD hasn't failed to generate much traction above 0.6850 in recent sessions.

• Commodity weakness remains a near term headwind. Iron ore has shed around $4 today, to be back around the $108/109/tonne levels. We aren't too far away from YTD lows. Onshore steel prices are also lower in China, while copper has lost over 2%.
• China Covid concerns are also weighing on equity sentiment, with US futures holding in the red (around -0.60-0.70% for the S&P500). AUD/JPY is still basically unchanged on the day, as USD/JPY has broken above 137.00. The pair last traded at 93.37, down from earlier highs close to 93.70.
• The A$ is generally down against most other crosses though. AUD/NZD is off by around -0.2% to be back at 1.1050, -30ticks for the session so far.