AUD/USD defies 0.7800 as dollar runs

• US soft data ignored, dollar higher on hopes of coming rate hikes.
• Fed's Powell boosted the greenback but kept risk sentiment in check.

The AUD/USD pair fell to 0.7793 on comment's from Fed Powell over the possibility of four rate hikes this year, stable now around 0.7800. The greenback jumped against all of its major rivals with the headlines, but he managed to contain risk-related sell-offs around equities, by stating  that QE is a tool the central bank has at its disposal and will use if necessary. Adding pressure on the Aussie was an over $17.00 slump in gold, as the commodity plunged to its lowest in three weeks.

Macroeconomic data coming from the US has been overall discouraging, but that didn't prevent the greenback from appreciating. Official releases showed that the January trade deficit widened to $74.4B, the worst reading in almost 10 years. Furthermore, Durable Goods Orders fell 3.7% in the same month, almost doubling an expected 2.0% decline, the biggest drop in six months a second consecutive large plunge. These numbers will surely take their toll on Q1 GDP. Weighing on the common currency was German inflation, as a preliminary February estimate showed a softer-than-expected advance, up 0.5% when compared to January and by 1.2% yearly basis, when harmonized to the EU. On a positive note, the CB Board Consumer Confidence Index that beat expectations in February, up to 130.8 vs. a previous revised o 126.2.

An immediate support comes at 0.7790, last week's low ahead of 0.7758, this month low. Below this last, the pair has room to extend down to the 0.7700 figure during the upcoming sessions. To the upside, resistances come at 0.7820, 0.7850 an the more relevant one at 0.7890.