AUD/USD moves sideways below 0.7500 ahead of US data

• AUD/USD struggles to reclaim 0.7500 ahead of American session.
• US Dollar Index consolidates weekly gains near 92.40.
• Eyes on Initial Jobless Claims and ISM Manufacturing PMI from data.

The AUD/USD pair dropped to its lowest level since June 18 at 0.7476 on Thursday but erased a portion of its losses ahead of the American session. Nevertheless, the pair continues to have a tough time breaking above 0.7500 and was last seen posting small daily losses at 0.7493.

Earlier in the day, the data from Australia showed that Imports and Exports increased by 3% and 6%, respectively in May but investors showed little to no reaction to these figures.

Eyes on US data

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index, which reached its strongest level in nearly three months at 92.54 earlier in the day, seems to have gone into a consolidation phase, forcing AUD/USD to move sideways.

Later in the session, the US Department of Labor will release the weekly Initial Jobless Claims data. More importantly, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for June will be watched closely by market participants. The headline print is largely expected to reveal an ongoing expansion in the manufacturing sector's business activity at a robust pace. Investors are likely to focus on the Prices Paid sub-index for fresh clues regarding the underlying price pressures.

On Friday, May Home Loans and Investment Lending for Homes data will be featured in the Australian economic docket. 

Technical levels to watch for