AUD/USD preserves gains near 6-week highs above 0.80 handle

The AUD/USD pair jumped to its highest level since late July at 0.8042 in the early NA session as the greenback suffered heavy losses against its peers amid weak macro data from the U.S. and the ECB President Draghi's hawkish remarks. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.8035, gaining 0.42% on the day.

Today's data from the U.S. showed that the number of initial jobless claims increased by 62K to its highest level in nearly 28 months at 298K for the week ending September 1. Other data revealed that the unit labor costs rose by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2017, dampening the expectations for one more rate hike in 2017 as it was assessed as another factor that could hold back the inflation growth. Although IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index showed an improvement in consumer confidence, it failed to provide a support for the buck. At the moment, the US Dollar Index was trading at 91.50, losing 0.75% on the day.

• US: Weekly initial claims was 298,000, an increase of 62,000 from previous week
• US: Productivity rises 1.5% in 2nd quarter 2017 (annual rate); unit labor costs rise 0.2%
• US: IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index climbed 1.7% to 53.4

In the early Asian session on Friday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the home loans data, which is expected to advance to 1% from 0.5% on a monthly basis in July. Earlier this week, The RBA in its monetary policy statement said "housing prices have been rising briskly in some markets, although there are signs that conditions are easing, especially in Sydney," and added that "conditions in the housing market continue to vary considerably around the country." A higher-than-expected reading could provide an additional boost to the AUD and push the pair higher.

Technical outlook

The initial hurdle for the pair aligns at 0.8065 (Jul. 27 high) ahead of 0.8100 (psychological level) and 0.8160 (May. 14 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at 0.8000 (psychological level), 0.7940 (20-DMA) and 0.7865 (Aug. 24 low). The RSI on the daily graph hasn't moved above the 70 mark yet, suggesting that the pair could extend its gains before it becomes technically overbought.

• AUD/USD bullish above 0.8040 – UOB