AUD/USD advances to fresh multi-year highs above 0.7500

• AUD/USD continues to push higher during American trading hours.
• Renewed hopes for a US stimulus deal is boosting market sentiment.
• US Dollar Index stays in negative territory below 91.00.

The AUD/USD pair extended its daily rally during the American trading hours and touched its highest level since June 2018 at 0.7528. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7515, gaining 0.95% on a daily basis.

Risk flows help AUD gather strength

The positive shift witnessed in market sentiment in the second half of the day seems to be providing a boost to risk-sensitive AUD. Although Wall Street’s main indexes started the day deep in the negative territory, renewed optimism for a US coronavirus aid bill seems to be helping US stocks gains traction.

Earlier in the day, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin noted that a lot of progress was made regarding stimulus talks. On a similar note, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said bipartisan negotiations on COVID-19 relief bill is making “great progress.” Reflecting the upbeat market mood, the S&P 500 Index turned positive on the day.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index stays below 91.00 on Thursday and allowing the AUD’s market valuation to drive AUD/USD’s movements. 

Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that the weekly Initial Jobless Claims increased by 137,000 to 853,000 but was largely ignored by market participants. Additionally, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) in November stayed unchanged at 1.6% on a yearly basis as expected. There won’t be any macroeconomic data releases from Australia on Friday.

Technical levels to watch for