AUD/USD holding steady ahead of China's GDP reading

• Aussie sees China GDP and Australian Unemployment figures this week.
• Japan's market holiday will see a drawdown in market volumes, exacerbating immediate reactions to data for Monday.

The AUD/USD is trading close to Friday's highs heading into the new week, clipping near 0.7420 ahead of a thin Monday session.

Japan markets will be dark for Monday in celebration of Marine Day, and the Pacific-Asia markets will see a reduction in traded volume, but with China's latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures due to drop early on at 02:00 GMT, volatility could see some reactionary spikes.

The Aussie wound up middling through last week's action as markets roiled on worsening trade rhetoric between the US and China, heaving on threats of further tariffs to come, but bottoming out near 0.7360 as traders saw a revival in risk appetite in the mid-week. Aussie traders, after digesting Monday's China GDP reading, will be looking towards Thursday's Aussie Unemployment figures, also due early that day at 01:30 GMT.

AUD/USD Levels to watch

Aussie bulls are looking to mark in higher lows on Daily candles, trying to plug the bleeding at last week's lows near 0.7360, but the last swing high near the 0.7500 key barrier keeps the pattern of sequential lower highs intact, and a true bullish reversal will need to break the critical handle decisively before working on punching in higher lows beyond the 0.7400 level.