• AUD/USD remains sidelined around intraday low amid Easter Monday holiday.
• China’s military drills around Taiwan propelled geopolitical woes early in Asia.
• Absence of escalation in military strikes, off in multiple markets tame Aussie pair’s moves.
• Cautious mood before Aussie employment, US inflation, Fed Minutes weigh on AUD/USD but more clues needed for clear directions.

AUD/USD sticks to minor losses around 0.6670, despite recently bouncing off the intraday low, as bears lack influencers amid the Easter Monday holiday. In doing so, the Aussie pair fails to justify the escalating geopolitical tension between the US and China.

China’s retaliation to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s US visit, by holding aggressive military drills near Taiwan Strait, triggered a risk-off mood during early Monday. However, the US refrains from speaking much as Reuters reports that the de facto US embassy in Taiwan said on Sunday the United States was monitoring China's drills around Taiwan closely and is ‘comfortable and confident’ it has sufficient resources and capabilities regionally to ensure peace and stability. Apart from that, there is total silence from the US on this matter and hence the risk aversion seems cooling down of late, which in turn prods AUD/USD bears.

Even so, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) pause on its rate hike trajectory joins downbeat Aussie inflation and Retail Sales data to keep AUD/USD sellers hopeful. On the same line could be the recently firmer US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) that allowed the Fed hawks to renew bets on the US central bank’s May-month rate hike.