AUD/USD struggles to hold above 0.6100 ahead of US data
|- Business confidence in Australia fell sharply in first quarter.
- US Dollar Index stays relatively calm near 99.50 on Thursday.
- Coming up: Weekly Initial Jobless Claims and Trade Balance data from US.
The AUD/USD pair climbed to a daily high of 0.6120 on Thursday but struggled to preserve its momentum ahead of key macroeconomic data releases from the US. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.6095, still adding 0.4% on a daily basis.
AUD ignores dismal business sentiment data
Earlier in the day, the data from Australia showed that the National Australia Bank's (NAB) Business Confidence Index in the first quarter slumped to -11 from -2. However, with Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison noting on Thursday that they are slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the country, market participants ignored the disappointing data and the AUD gathered strength against its rivals.
On the other hand, the greenback trades mixed against its major rivals with the US Dollar Index fluctuating in a relatively tight range around mid-99s on Thursday. In the second half of the day, investors will be paying close attention to the weekly Initial Jobless Claims data, which skyrocketed to an all-time high above 3 million last week.
On Wednesday, the ADP in its National Employment Report said that the employment in the private sector declined by 27,000. Although this reading was much better than the market expectation for a decline of 150,000 it failed to provide a boost to the market sentiment.
Other data from the US will include Trade Balance and Factory Orders for February as well as the ISM NY's Business Conditions Index for March.
Technical levels to consider
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