AUD/USD consolidates daily gains near 0.6460 as focus shifts to US data
|- AUD gathers strength after China reports large trade surplus in April.
- Upbeat market mood boosts risk-sensitive AUD/USD on Thursday.
- US Dollar Index stays calm above 100 ahead of Jobless Claims data.
The AUD/USD pair gained traction during the Asian trading hours as the upbeat Trade Balance data from China helped the AUD find demand. After advancing to a daily high of 0.6473, however, the pair has gone into a consolidation phase and was last seen trading at 0.6463, up 1% on a daily basis.
Chinese trade activity recovers sharply in April
China's trade surplus in April widened to $45.34 billion on a yearly basis to beat the market expectation of $6.35 billion by a wide margin. During the same period, Exports increased by 3.5% following March's decline of 6.6%. Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Australia's Exports rose by 15.1% in March to provide an additional boost to the AUD.
Moreover, the upbeat market as mirrored by the strong gains witnessed in major global equity indexes is also helping the risk-sensitive AUD/USD preserve its bullish momentum on Thursday.
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index is staying relatively quiet above the 100 handle as investors are waiting for the US Department of Labor's weekly Initial Jobless Claims data. Previewing the data, "we expect claims to fall for the sixth straight week, but remain in the range of 3 million," said Wells Fargo analysts. "For the past six weeks, eight states have had cumulative unemployment claims that equate to 24% or more of their February 2020 labor force.”
Technical levels to watch for
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