AUD/USD May 20 – Aussie Up Against US Dollar

The Aussie traded higher Thursday against the US Dollar following a report on lower than expected US jobless claims and lower than expected home sales and manufacturing figures.  The Aussie was trading at 1.0659, up 0.26% at the time of this writing.

Here’s a quick update on technicals, fundamentals and community trends.

AUD/USD Technicals

• Previous sessions: The Aussie traded gradually lower in the first half of the session, reaching its low in the day by id session and then climbing back to its current level.
• Current range: 1.0595 – 1.0681
• Further levels: Below: 1.0618, 1.0641, 1.0610 Above: 1.0664, 1.0674, 1.0687
• AUD / USD likely to find support at 1.0506, and resistance at today’s high of 1.0681.

AUD/USD Fundamentals

• 13:00   US         FOMC Member Dudley Speaks

* All times are GMT.

For the major events due later in the week, see the  AUD/USD forecast.

AUD/USD Sentiment

• US economic data was mixed today, with US jobless claims were reported by the US today for last week. The report stated a figure of 409k as opposed to the expected 420k jobless claims for last week.
• US home sales were lower than expected in April.
• The Philadelphia Fed announced that its manufacturing index declined sharply during the current month of May.
• The credit ratings of Australia’s largest banks were lowered by Moody’s to Aa2 on the basis of concern that their dependence on  wholesale debt markets makes them  vulnerable to speculation.
• The Japanese economy shrank by a greater than expected annualized 3.7% during the first quarter due to the March natural disasters. Analysts were expecting an annualized contraction of 2%.

Currensee Community: 50% are short, 50% are long. 302 open positions in real accounts trading this pair at the moment.  The community is neutral on expectations of future levels of the pair ahead.