AUD/USD climbs to fresh weekly highs above 0.7300 on broad USD weakness
- AUD/USD is rising for the second straight day on Thursday.
- US Dollar Index slumped below 93.00 amid EUR/USD rally.
- Weekly Initial Jobless Claims in US came in slightly higher than expected.
After spending the first half of the day fluctuating in a tight range below 0.7300, the AUD/USD pair gained traction during the American session and climbed to its highest level in a week at 0.7325. As of writing, the pair was up 0.38% on the day at 0.7310.
USD selloff intensifies after ECB meeting
The broad-based USD weakness on Thursday seems to be fueling AUD/USD rally. The European Central Bank (ECB) in its policy statement reiterated that it's not targeting an exchange rate for euro and refrained from voicing any concerns over the shared currency's recent appreciation. This development triggered a sharp upsurge in the EUR/USD pair and forced the US Dollar Index (DXY) to slump below 93.00. At the moment, the DXY is losing 0.45% on the day at 92.83.
Earlier in the day, the data published by the US Department of Labor showed that 884,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week. This reading came in slightly worse than the market expectation of 846,000 but failed to trigger a meaningful market reaction.
Meanwhile, Wall Street's main indexes opened the day in the positive territory and put additional weight on the USD's shoulders.
There won't be any significant macroeconomic data releases featured in the Australian economic docket on Friday and the USD's market valuation is likely to continue to drive AUD/USD's movements.
Technical levels to watch for