AUD/USD sits near multi-week tops, comfortably above 0.6800 handle

• The USD fails to preserve Thursday’s US data-led up-move and helped regain traction.
• The latest optimism over the resumption of US-China trade talks remained supportive.
• Friday’s key focus will remain on the US jobs report and Powell’s scheduled speech.

The AUD/USD pair traded with a positive bias on Friday and is currently placed near multi-week tops – around the 0.6825-30 region.
 
After the overnight late pullback and a subsequent dip to the 0.6800 neighbourhood during the Asian session on Friday, the pair managed to regain traction and turned higher for the fourth consecutive session amid the latest optimism over the resumption of the US-China trade talks.

US-China trade optimism remained supportive

It is worth reporting that officials from the US and China suggested that negotiations will kick off again in early October. This against the backdrop of this week’s RBA decision to maintain status-quo and mostly in line Australian GDP figures continued underpinning the China-proxy Aussie.
 
On the other hand, the US Dollar failed to capitalize on the overnight goodish bounce, led by a surprise increase in the US private-sector payrolls and upbeat ISM non-manufacturing PMI, which coupled with the prevalent risk-on mood, remained supportive of the pair’s bid tone.
 
It, however, remains to be seen if the pair is able to capitalize on the positive momentum or witnesses some selling pressure at higher levels as investors start positioning for Friday’s important release of the closely watched US monthly jobs report – popularly known as NFP.
 
This followed by the Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s scheduled speech during the US trading session might influence investors’ expectations about the central bank’s near-term monetary policy outlook and eventually provide a fresh impetus for the pair’s near-term trajectory.

Technical levels to watch