Forexpros — The Australian dollar climbed to a four-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after official data showed that retail sales rose more-than-expected in July, after declining in the previous three months.
AUD/USD hit 1.0732 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since August 4; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0716, gaining 0.10%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0558, the low of August 29 and resistance at 1.0785, the high of August 3.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said retail sales rose by 0.5% in July, after declining by 0.1% the previous month. Analysts had expected retail sales to increase by 0.3% in July.
A separate report showed that business investment increased by 4.9% in the second quarter, after climbing by an upwardly revised 7.7% in the three months to March.
Also Thursday, government data showed that China’s purchasing managers’ index rebounded from a 28-month low in August, climbing to 50.9 from 50.7. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
The Aussie was also higher against the yen, with AUD/JPY rising 0.36% to hit 82.36.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish its closely watched weekly report on initial jobless claims, while the U.S. Institute of Supply Management was to produce data on manufacturing growth.
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