The AUD/USD pair holds onto gains near a three-week high of 0.6640 in Friday’s European session. The Aussie asset exhibits strength as the US Dollar (USD) struggles to hold recovery from a fresh 10-day low on Thursday, which was driven by upbeat United States (US) Retail Sales data for July and lower-than-expected Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending August 9.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, edges lower to near 102.85.

Data on Thursday showed that US Retail Sales grew at a robust pace of 1% from the estimates of 0.3% after contracting in June. Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time was lower at 227K than estimates of 235K and the prior release of 234K.

The market sentiment remains firm as investors’ confidence in the Federal Reserve (Fed) to begin reducing interest rates from the September meeting remains intact. S&P 500 futures have posted decent gains in the European session, exhibiting a strong risk appetite of investors. 10-year US Treasury yields slump to near 3.91%.

Meanwhile, the Australian Dollar (AUD) performs strongly amid worries that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) could tighten its monetary policy further. Upbeat Aussie Employment data, released on Thursday, added to evidence that price pressures could remain persistent. The data showed that fresh payrolls were higher at 58.2K, compared with estimates of 20K and the prior release of 52.3K.

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