AUD/USD posts strong gains, surges closer to yearly tops near 0.7740

The AUD/USD pair continues scaling higher through the mid-European session and is now placed at fresh four-month highs near 0.7735-40 region.

The pair's strong up-move over the past couple of days got an additional boost from today's upbeat Chinese trade balance data. This coupled with tumbling US Treasury bond yields, led by the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's dovish testimony on Wednesday, further benefitted higher-yielding currencies and helped the pair to surge through the 0.7700 handle.

Meanwhile, possibilities of some big stops being triggered might have also collaborated to the pair's strong up-move since early European trading session. Even a modest US Dollar recovery did little to stall the ongoing strong bullish momentum, with the pair now moving within striking distance of yearly tops touched in March. 

Next on tap would be the US economic docket, featuring the release of weekly jobless claims and PPI print ahead of Fedspeak later during the day. 

Technical levels to watch

Momentum beyond yearly tops resistance near mid-0.7700s could get extended towards 0.7780 intermediate resistance en-route the 0.7800 handle. On the flip side, any pull-back now seems to find some fresh buying interest near 0.7710 level, which is closely followed by support near 0.7685 level.