AUD/USD retreats slightly from highs, trades around 0.6450
- AUD/USD clings to strong daily gains despite broad-based USD strength.
- US Dollar Index climbs above 100.30 during American session.
- RBA's Monetary Policy Statement will be watched closely by market participants.
The AUD/USD pair started the day on a strong footing on Thursday after the data published by China's General Administration of Customs showed a larger-than-expected trade surplus in April. Following the steady climb to the daily high of 0.6473, the pair erased a small portion of its daily gains and was last seen trading at 0.6454, where it was up 0.85% on a daily basis.
China's annual trade surplus expanded to $45.34 billion in April and surpassed analysts' estimate of $6.35 billion by a wide margin to help the China-proxy AUD find demand during the Asian session. Furthermore, the Australian Bureau of Statistics announced that Australia's Exports increased by 15.1% on a monthly basis in March.
DXY continues to push higher
In the second half of the day, the weekly data from the US showed that more than 3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the week ending May 2nd. Although this reading was largely ignored by the market participants, the dismal performance of major European currencies, namely the GBP and the EUR, provided a boost to the greenback.
With the US Dollar Index (DXY) rising to its highest level in nearly two weeks at 100.40, AUD/USD pulled away from its highs. At the moment, the index is up 0.12% on the day at 100.30.
On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release its Monetary Policy Statement and investors will be looking for fresh clues regarding additional monetary easing measures.
Technical levels to watch for