Australian Dollar Advances On Strong Data; Vaccination Process

The Australian dollar climbed against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Thursday, as vaccinations across the country picked up pace and recent economic data topped forecasts.

Australia has reached a milestone by administering 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

The states of Victoria and New South Wales have brought forward their vaccination targets to reduce the outbreak of the Delta strain of COVID-19.

Australian economy grew better than expected in the second quarter, according to a data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics earlier this week.

The economy expanded by 9.6 percent on year in the second quarter, beating forecasts for a gain of 9.2 percent following the 1.1 percent increase in the previous quarter.

Separate data showed that Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$12.117 billion in July.

That beat forecasts for a surplus of A$10.2 billion and was up from A$10.496 billion in June.

Exports climbed A$2.090 billion or 5.0 percent on month to A$45.951 billion, while imports were up A$1.087 billion or 3.0 percent on month to A$33.834 billion.

The aussie rose to more than a 2-week high of 1.6031 against the euro, fresh 3-week high of 0.7389 against the greenback and a 1-1/2-month high of 0.9316 against the loonie, off its early lows of 1.6092,0.7356 and 0.9284, respectively. The next possible resistance for the aussie is located around 1.58 against the euro, 0.71 against the greenback and 0.95 against the loonie.

The aussie advanced to a 3-week high of 81.32 against the yen and a 3-day high of 1.0436 against the kiwi, after falling to 80.88 and 1.0411, respectively in early deals. The aussie may challenge support around 83.00 against the yen and 1.06 against the kiwi.

Looking ahead, Eurozone PPI for July is due in the European session.

U.S. and Canadian trade data for July, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended August 28 and factory orders for July will be released in the New York session.