The US dollar index on Thursday rallied to trade at a new 2-month high of about 104.00 before pulling back slightly to 103.950. The DXY appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart.
The dollar currency index has now ascended to trade several levels above the 100-hour moving average line. As a result, the USDX seems to be on the verge of entering 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 the week ending August 18 beat the expected claim count of 240k with a tally of 230k. The continuing claims for the preceding week also outshone the estimate of 1.708 million with a tally of 1.702 million.
The durable goods orders for July missed the expected change of -4% with a change of -5.2%, while durable goods orders ex-transportation outshone the estimate of 0.2% with a change of 0.5%.
Elsewhere, the nondefence capital goods orders ex-aircraft matched the expected change of 0.1%. Earlier in the week, the preliminary S&P Global Services PMI for August missed the expected reading of 52.2 with a reading of 51. The Manufacturing PMI also fell short of 49.3 with 47, while the Composite PMI missed the estimate of 52 with a reading of 50.4.
The US Dollar Index Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)
Technically, the USDX appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation in the 60-min chart. The 1-hour MACD also appears to be supporting the bullish case after completing an upward crossover on Thursday.
Therefore, the bulls will be looking to ride the current run of gains toward 104.128 or higher to 104.326. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about 103.756 or lower at 103.551.
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. The MACD appears to be running out of momentum after completing a bullish crossover in late July.
Therefore, the bears will be targeting potential reversals at about 103.239 or lower at 102.435. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about 104.572 or higher at 105.342.