AUD/USD inches higher to 0.6890 area, looks to post modest weekly gains
- Trade optimism helps the AUD gather strength on Friday.
- Upbeat retail sales data from the US allows USD to recover.
- The AUD/USD pair remains on track to close the second straight week higher.
The AUD/USD pair stretched higher into the London fix and rose to a fresh daily high of 0.6887. As of writing, the pair was up 0.28% on the day at 0.6885.
AUD capitalizes on trade optimism
The latest headlines surrounding the US-China trade conflict and a weakening Greenback helped the pair preserve its bullish momentum on Friday. Earlier today, China’s State Council announced that they have decided to exclude some agricultural products including soybeans and pork from retaliatory tariffs on US imports.
Additionally, commenting on reports claiming that his administration was planning to offer an interim trade deal to China to secure additional purchases of agricultural products in exchange for deyaing tariffs, US President Trump said that he would rather have a complete trade deal with China rather than an interim one.
Later in the day, the data from the US revealed that retail sales in August rose 0.4% to beat the market expectation of 0.2% and the University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index improved to 92 in September from 89.8 in August. However, the US Dollar Index failed to make a meaningful recovery despite the upbeat data and was last down 0.17% on a daily basis at 98.20.
There won't be any macroeconomic data releases in the remainder of the day and the pair is likely to close the second straight week in the positive territory.
Technical levels to watch for
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
