AUD/USD consolidates daily losses near 0.7600

• AUD/USD trades in a relatively tight range on Friday.
• Cautious market mood is not allowing AUD to gather strength.
• US Dollar Index posts modest daily gains, stays below 90.00.

Following Thursday’s impressive upsurge, the AUD/USD pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase on Friday. After dropping to a daily low of 0.7583, however, the pair recovered modestly and was last seen losing 0.15% on the day at 0.7610.

AUD/USD rally loses steam on Friday

The upbeat jobs report from Australia, which showed that the Unemployment Rate declined to 6.8% in November from 7%, allowed AUD/USD to advance to its highest level since June 2018 at 0.7641.

Moreover, the heavy selling pressure surrounding the greenback provided an additional boost to the pair. With the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes renewing all-time highs, the US Dollar Index (DXY) slumped to a fresh multi-year low of 89.73.

On Friday, the subdued market action and the lack of fundamental drivers help the DXY stage a rebound. At the moment, the index is clinging to small daily gains at 89.92, forcing AUD/USD to stay in the negative territory.

There won’t be any significant macroeconomic data releases from the US on Friday and risk sentiment could impact the USD’s market valuation in the second half of the day. As of writing, the S&P 500 Futures were virtually flat on the day and a deep correction in Wall Street’s main indexes could help DXY try and close the week above 90.00.

Technical levels to watch for