AUD/USD: bulls in control fundamentally, targetting 0.77 handle

AUD/USD has been a strong performer on both a weak US dollar and a decent  jobs report from Australia.

The Australian unemployment in the country dropped to 5.7% vs 5.8% consensus for July with the economy adding 26,200 new jobs in July vs just 11K expected. 0.7720 was a tough nut to crack on the back of the demand and knee jerk rally from 0.7650. There was a good level of supply from there to 0.7660 before a grind higher again to current spot on the basis of a dovish FOMC.

Other data today in the US, unemployment claims arrived in at 262K for the week ending August 12th, better than the 265K expected, while the  4-week average came in at 265,250, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's unrevised average of 262,750. The Philadelphia FED manufacturing survey arrived at 2.0, as expected. 

How volatile has AUD/USD been?

Hourly 2-Standard Deviation Volatility Bandwidth is currently 70 pips, and has been shrinking, while the ATR (14) is currently 19 pips. Daily 2-Standard Deviation Volatility Bandwidth is at 322 pips and expanding. The average movement for the current hour has been for 19 pips per hour, over the last four weeks. Meanwhile, 0:00-1:00 GMT represented peak for volatility, with an average movement of 22 pips over the same period.

What price levels and patterns have to be considered?

Spot is presently trading at 0.7693, and next resistance can be seen at 0.7699 (Weekly High), 0.7702 (Monthly High), 0.7707 (Daily Classic R1), 0.7710 (Yesterday's High) and 0.7725 (Daily High). Next support to the downside can be found at 0.7680 (Hourly 20 EMA), 0.7680 (Hourly 200 SMA), 0.7676 (Hourly 100 SMA), 0.7669 (Weekly Classic PP) and 0.7658 (Daily Classic PP). Regarding candlestick formations, we can see Piercing Line formation on the 1-hour .