AUD/USD clings to upbeat Aussie data-led gains above 0.77 handle

   •  Aussie trade balance data helps conquer 200-DMA hurdle.
   •  Fed Chair and tax reform bill announcement in focus. 

The AUD/USD pair finally managed to break through an important hurdle at 200-day SMA and spiked to over 1-week highs on Thursday. 

The pair continued gaining some positive traction for the second consecutive session and was boosted by better-than-expected Aussie trade balance and building approvals data. In September, Australia's trade surplus came in at A$1.75 billion (A$12 billion expected), while building approvals surprisingly rose 1.5% m-o-m as against consensus estimates pointing to a 1.0% decline. 

Australia's trade surplus improves in September, building approvals rise

Adding to this, Fed Chair speculations, accompanied with comments from the US house tax committee Chairman Brady kept the US Dollar bulls on the back-foot. Moreover, a modest pullback in the US Treasury bond yields benefitted higher-yielding currencies and further collaborated to the pair's sharp up-move.

Meanwhile, the market seems to have digested Wednesday's stronger US private sector employment data (ADP report) and the latest Fed policy update, wherein the central bank left doors open for a widely expected December rate hike. 

Today's second-tier US economic data is likely to be overshadowed by the upcoming US President Donald Trump's announcement over the next Fed Chair and the US tax reform bill, expected to be unveiled at 1515 GMT.

Technical levels to watch

Currently placed marginally above the 0.7700 handle, a follow-through buying interest beyond 0.7730 level has the potential to continue lifting the pair towards 0.7760-70 intermediate hurdle ahead of the 0.7800 handle. 

On the downside, 200-day SMA, near the 0.7695 region, now becomes the immediate support to defend, which if broken could accelerate the slide back towards 0.7655-50 strong horizontal support.