The AUD/USD currency pair on Friday rallied to a new 2-week high of about 0.6815 following the latest round of US data. The currency pair continues to trade within an ascending channel in the 60-min chart.

The currency pair has now rallied to trade several levels above the 100-hour moving average line. As a result, the currency pair has moved closer to the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.

AUD/USD Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the AUD/USD currency pair is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the US market. On Friday, the December Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index outperformed the expectation of 41.2 with a reading of 44.9. On Thursday, the initial jobless claims for the week ending December 23 increased to 225k compared to the previous week’s equivalent of 216k. On the other hand, continuing claims for the period edged slightly higher to 1.71 million up from 1.669 reported for the preceding week.

Earlier in the week, pending home sales for November missed the (MoM) expectation of 0.6% with a change of -4%. The (YoY) equivalent also missed -36.7% with a change of -37.6%. On the other hand, the house price index for October fell short of the forecasted (MoM) change of 0.8% with a change of 0%, while the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices failed to match the (YoY) forecast of 9.7% with a change of 8.6%.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the AUD/USD currency pair appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart. This indicates a significant long-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bulls will be targeting extended gains at about 0.6845 or higher at 0.6867. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on potential pullback profits at about 0.6788 or lower at 0.6765.

AUD/USD Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the AUD/USD currency pair appears to be trading within a sharply ascending channel formation. This indicates a strong long-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bulls will be targeting long-term profits at about 0.6893 or higher at 0.6979. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on potential pullbacks at about 0.6730 or lower at 0.6641.