AUD/USD Hits Highest Since 2018

The Australian dollar rose again during the European and US session, continuing its rise against the greenback to hit the highest level in 28-months, the pair last at 0.7417

• The move higher was supported late on by a rally in WTI crude futures on reports that the OPEC+ group had made progress on reaching a deal on output as soon as this week. Gold also advanced and has recovered impressively after crashing 6.5% at the end of November. Iron ore prices surged to the highest level since December 2013 which has been attributed to strong steel demand in China.
• Data from the region was broadly positive, the final readings of the November Services PMI printed above the previous at 55.1 from 54.9, while the composite also eked out a slight rise at 54.9 from 54.7 previously. Building permits rose 8.8% in October against a previous increase of 3.6%, while the AiG Construction Index also rose to 55.3 from 52.7.
• Focus for the pair during the Asia session on Thursday is trade balance data at 00:30GMT/11:30AEDT.
• From a technical perspective AUD/USD is in rarified air after recovering from a low of 0.5510 in March. The next target is 0.7484 the high from July 10 2018.