AUD/USD breaks key resistance and approaches 0.6800 as US Dollar slides

• US Dollar falls across the board on Thursday, amid risk appetite.
• AUD/USD strengthens after breaking 0.6750, trims weekly losses.
• US Initial Jobless Claims rise to 230K and Continuing Claims hit fresh monthly highs.

A slide of the US Dollar across the board boosted the AUD/USD pair that broke above 0.6745. It hit three-day highs at 0.6769 following US economic data and then pulled back to 0.6755/60.

The US Dollar is falling modestly while commodity currencies are rising strongly. Gold, silver and crude oil are all up. The DXY is down just 0.05% at 105.10. US Treasury yields hold steady, marginally higher.

Regarding economic data, US Initial Jobless Claims rose as expected to 230K in the week ended December 3 while Continuing Claims increased by 62K to 1.671 million in the week ended November 26, above the 1.575 million of market consensus, hitting the highest level since early February. On Friday, China will report the Consumer Price Index for November which is expected to show an increase of 1.5% (annual).

Positive short-term outlook for AUD above 0.6750

The AUD/USD gained momentum after breaking the 0.6740/50 area that capped the upside during the previous two trading days. While above this level, the outlook is bullish of the Aussie in the very short-term. The next resistance is seen at 0.6780 followed by 0.6795.

A slide back under 0.6740 would weaken the pair, exposing the next support area at 0.6710. Below, the next one stands at 0.6680.

Technical levels