AUD/USD clings to modest daily gains below 0.7350 ahead of US data
- AUD/USD stays in the positive territory on Wednesday.
- Australian economy expanded at a stronger pace than expected.
- US Dollar Index stays quiet above 92.50 ahead of key data.
After closing in the positive territory on Tuesday, the AUD/USD pair continued to edge higher on the back of upbeat data from Australia. Although the pair renewed its strongest level in more than two weeks at 0.7350, it lost its bullish momentum during the European trading hours and was last seen rising 0.32% on the day at 0.7339.
The Australia Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday that the real GDP expanded by 0.7% on a quarterly basis in the second quarter, surpassing the market expectation of 0.5%. Additionally, the annualized GDP growth arrived at 9.6%, compared to analysts' estimate of 9.2%.
Focus shifts to US data
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index, which erased a majority of its daily losses following a decline to multi-week lows on Tuesday, is staying relatively quiet around 92.60 ahead of key macroeconomic data releases from the US.
Ahead of Friday's Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, the Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Research Institute will release the private sector employment in the early American session. Investors expect the ADP Employment Change to rise to 613K from 330K in July. A strong print is likely to help the USD gather strength against its rivals as it could be seen as a hint toward an upbeat NFP and vice versa.
Moreover, the ISM's August Manufacturing PMI will be watched closely by market participants.
Technical levels to watch for