The AUD/USD pair gains traction for the third successive day on Thursday and maintains its bid tone through the first half of the European session. The pair, however, trims a part of its intraday gains and retreats to the 0.6815-0.6810 region during the first half of the European session.
The US Dollar languishes near a multi-month low in the wake of the overnight dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and acts as a tailwind for the AUD/USD pair. In fact, Powell sent a clear message that the US central bank will soften its stance and said that it was time to moderate the pace of interest rate hikes. This leads to a further decline in the US Treasury bond yields and continues to weigh on the greenback.
Apart from this, a positive tone around the equity markets is another factor undermining the safe-haven buck and benefitting the risk-sensitive Aussie. The AUD/USD bulls further took cues from a slight improvement in China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI, which unexpectedly rose to 49.4 in November from 49.2 in the previous month. The reading marks the fourth successive monthly contraction amid widespread COVID-19 curbs.
