Regains Lost Ground

AUD/USD starts Asia on firmer footing after rising on Thursday. The pair rose as high as 0.7805 on broad USD weakness. Last changes hands at 0.7779, up 1 pip on the session and around 70 pips higher than opening levels yesterday.

• After a firm start to the day, the USD was sold into the NY close as markets look ahead to an event from the Biden-Harris transition team, at which the President-Elect is expected to outline his economic plan for when he enters office. Reports of a stimulus package that could amount to as much as $2tn helped boost the USD initially, but selling pressure knocked the greenback as stocks advanced.
• AUDUSD is still trading below the recent high of 0.7820, Jan 6 high. Although the uptrend remains intact, there is a risk the pair will retrace lower short-term in a move that would be considered a correction and this would allow an overbought condition to unwind. The key support to watch is 0.7666, Jan 11 low. A break would expose 0.7600 and below. On the upside, clearance of 0.7820 resumes the uptrend
• A few data points to watch for in the upcoming session. Home loans data for November is due at 0030GMT/1130AEDT, the metric is expected to have risen 1.2% M/M from 0.7% previously.