Forex - AUD/USD hits 5-month high after trade balance data

Forexpros - The Australian dollar rose to a five-month high against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday, after data showed Australia’s trade surplus rose unexpectedly in December, while news of a Greek debt deal supported sentiment.

AUD/USD hit 1.0756 during late Asian trade, the pair’s highest since August 4; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0732, adding 0.23%.

The pair was likely to find support at 1.0654, the low of October 28 and resistance at 1.0678, the low of August 3.

Official data showed earlier that Australia’s trade surplus rose to AUD1.71 billion in December from a surplus of AUD1.34 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected Australia’s trade surplus to narrow to AUD1.22 billion in December.

In a separate report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new building approvals fell 1.0% in December, confounding expectations for a 2.1% increase.

The previous month’s figure was revised up to a gain of 10.1% from a previously reported 8.4% increase.

Meanwhile, market sentiment was supported by rumors that Greece's long-delayed deal with private sector creditors to cut its debt was nearly finalized. But investors remained concerned that such a deal will not go far enough to reduce the country’s debt load.

Elsewhere, the Aussie was higher against the euro with EUR/AUD shedding 0.09%, to hit 1.2283.

Later in the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to testify before the House of Representatives budget committee. The U.S. was also to produce government data on initial jobless claims.