AUD/USD jumps above 0.72 after a better-than-expected Aussie Q2 GDP release
- The AUD is reporting gains across the board, courtesy of a better-than-expected June quarter GDP print.
- The AUD has moved well above the 50-hour moving average (MA), adding credence to the bullish RSI divergence seen in the hourly chart.
The bid tone around the AUD strengthened, pushing the AUD/USD to a session high of 0.7219 after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported an above-forecast second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP).
The Australian economy grew by 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms in the March quarter, beating the estimated growth rate of 0.7 percent. The economy had expanded 1 percent in the March quarter.
The net exports contributed 0.1 percentage points to GDP growth as expected and the household final consumption expenditure increased 0.7% during the quarter, contributing 0.4 percentage points to GDP growth.
The upbeat GDP figure is boding well for the AUD, which is looking oversold as per the 14-week relative strength index (RSI).
More importantly, it highlights the resilience in the Australian economy and will likely squash dovish RBA expectations. As a result, the pair may remain well bid during the day ahead.
AUD/USD Technical Levels
Resistance: 0.7238 (Aug. 24 low), 0.7258 (10-day moving average), 0.7310 (July 2 low)
Support: 0.7157 (previous day's low), 0.7136 (76.4% Fib R of 0.6827/0.8136), 0.71 (psychological level)