AUD/USD leaps to fresh weekly top above 0.79 after FOMC minutes

The AUD/USD pair gained traction in the NA session and touched its highest level since August 8 at 0.7923 on the back of a weakening greenback. As of writing, the pair was trading at 0.7918, adding 95 pips, or 1.2%, on the day.

The US Dollar Index, which was already under pressure in the session after the US President Donald Trump announced that he ended the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, pushed lower as the minutes from the FOMC's July meeting failed to deliver any remarks that could ramp up the expectations for another rate hike in 2017. At the moment, the DXY is at 93.45, losing 0.33% on the day. 

• DXY extends the downside post FOMC minutes

According to the minutes released on Wednesday, some members of the Committee expressed their concerns over the slowdown in inflation and argued that the next rate hike should stay on hold until they see more evidence of inflation rising to the Fed's 2% target rate. Nevertheless, the markets' expectations for a December rate hike didn't change much according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool. 

•  FOMC Minutes: Policymakers agreed a fall in longer-term inflation expectations would be undesirable

Earlier in the day, the aussie gathered strength against its peers, allowing the AUD/USD pair to erase its losses from Monday and Tuesday, as the Australian wage price data came in at 0.5% and 1.9% on a quarterly and yearly basis respectively, meeting the market estimates.

Technical outlook

The initial hurdle for the pair aligns at 0.7930 (20-DMA) ahead of 0.8000 (psychological level) and 0.8065 (Jul. 27 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at 0.7835 (daily low), 0.7790 (50-DMA) and 0.7730 (Jul. 14 low). The RSI indicator on the daily graph is staying above the 50 handle and is moving towards the 70 mark, suggesting that the bullish momentum is building up in the short-term.