AUD/USD eases off monthly highs, trades above mid-0.76s
|- Aussie receives a boost from employment data.
- Upbeat data from US helps DXY recover yesterday's losses.
- Copper futures add another 1% on Thursday.
After closing the first three days of the week with gains, the AUD/USD pair preserved its bullish momentum on Thursday and advanced to its best level since November 10 at 0.7675 before going into a consolidation phase. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7660, adding 0.33% on the day.
Labor market remains healthy in Australia
Today's data from Australia showed that the employment in November increased by 61.6K following October's dismal 7.8K increase and beat the market estimate of 18K. Underlying details of the report showed that full-time employment accounted for 41.9K of this increase and the participation rate improved to 65.5% from 65.2%.
The solid performance of commodities, which has been the primary catalyst for the pair's upsurge during the first half of the week, continued to provide an additional boost to the aussie. In fact, copper futures, which gained nearly 1% on Wednesday, rose another 1% today.
On the other hand, the greenback remained under pressure and failed to make a meaningful recovery against its peers ahead of the macroeconomic data releases as the negative impact of the neutral FOMC policy weighed on the currency. However, with the weekly jobless claims and the retail sales data coming in better than the expectations the US Dollar Index gained traction and made it difficult for the pair to advance further. Moreover, a more than 1% increase seen in the 10-year US T-bond yields supported the index's upside. The DXY was last seen at 93.70, up 0.34% on the day.
With no more macroeconomic data releases left in the remainder of the day, the pair is likely to move sideways below its recent peaks. The only noteworthy data on Friday will be the industrial production from the United States.
Technical levels to consider
The first crucial resistance for the pair aligns at 0.7710 (200-DMA). A daily close above that level could open the door for further gains toward 0.7780 (100-DMA) and 0.7835 (Oct. 23 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at 0.7645 (50-DMA), 0.7580 (20-DMA) and 0.7500 (psychological level). The RSI indicator on the daily chart still has room on the upside before it reaches the 70 mark, suggesting that bulls are still dominating the price action.
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