The US dollar index on Thursday pulled back from a session high of about 105.159 to trade t about 104.992 following the latest round of data. The USDX appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart.

The dollar currency index has now surged to trade above the 100-hour moving average line. However, Thursday’s late pullback prevented the US dollar index from ascending into the overbought levels of the 14-hour RSI.

The US Dollar Index Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the US dollar index is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in the US market. On Thursday, the initial jobless claims for last week outperformed the expected claim count of 195k with a lower tally of 190k. On the other hand, the continuing claims for the preceding period outshone the forecast of 1.665 million with a tally of 1.655 million, while unit labour costs for Q4 beat the forecasted change of 1.6% with a change of 3.2%. 

Earlier in the week, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for February missed the expected reading of 48 with a reading of 47.7. The ISM Manufacturing Employment Index also fell short of 51 with 49.1, while both the ISM Manufacturing New Orders Index and Prices Paid beat 43.7 and 45, respectively with a reading of 47 and 51.3. Elsewhere the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for the period missed the expected reading of 47.8 with a reading of 47.3.

The US Dollar Index Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the US dollar index appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart. This indicates a significant short-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bulls will be looking to extend the current gains toward 105.159 or higher at 105.359. On the other hand, the bears will be looking to pounce on potential pullbacks at about 104.790 or lower at 104.600.

The US Dollar Index Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the US dollar currency index seems to be trading within an ascending channel formation. This indicates a significant long-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bulls will be targeting profits at about 105.843 or higher at about 106.779. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce at about 104.070 or lower at 103.085.