AUDUSD maintains gains near 0.6640 despite a weak US dollar.
The AUDUSD pair held gains near a three-week high of 0.6640 in Friday’s European session. The Australian dollar strengthens as the US dollar (USD) battles to recover from a new 10-day low on Thursday, which was fueled by positive US retail sales data for July and lower-than-expected Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending August 9.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which analyzes the value of the greenback against six major currencies, edged lower to near 102.85.
Data released on Thursday indicated that US retail sales increased at a healthy rate of 1%, exceeding expectations of 0.3% after dropping in June. Meanwhile, the number of Americans registering for unemployment benefits for the first time was 227K, lower than expectations of 235K and the previous announcement of 234K.
The Fed appears ready to begin lowering interest rates in September.
The market sentiment is strong, as investors continue to believe that the Federal Reserve (Fed) would begin lowering interest rates following the September meeting. S&P 500 futures have seen decent increases in the European session, indicating that investors have a strong risk appetite. Ten-year US Treasury yields have fallen to around 3.91%.
Upbeat Australian employment data adds to evidence that price pressures may remain tenacious.
Australian Dollar (AUD) is performing well amid concerns that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would tighten monetary policy further Upbeat Australian employment data, issued on Thursday, added to concerns that price pressures may linger. The report revealed that fresh payrolls were higher at 58.2K, compared to estimates of 20K and the previous announcement of 52.3K.
