AUD/USD clings to daily gains near 0.7270 ahead of US data

• AUD/USD stays in the positive territory in early American session.
• US Dollar Index edges lower to 93.20 area on Thursday.
• Investors await mid-tier macroeconomic data releases from US.

After spending the Asian session in a tight range below 0.7250, the AUD/USD pair gained traction and was last seen rising 0.38% on the day at 0.7272.

Eyes on US data, Evergrande headlines

The positive shift witnessed in market sentiment on Thursday seems to be causing the greenback to lose strength and helps AUD/USD preserve its bullish momentum. Following Wednesday's climb on the back of the US Federal Reserve's hawkish policy outlook, the US Dollar Index is losing 0.25% on the day at 93.20. Meanwhile, the S&P Futures are up 0.5%, suggesting that Wall Street's main indexes are likely to open higher.

Later in the session, the US Department of Labor's weekly Initial Jobless Claims data and the IHS Markit's preliminary Manufacturing and Services PMI reports for September will be featured in the US economic docket.

Earlier in the day, the data from Australia showed that the Commonwealth Bank Manufacturing PMI improved to 57.3 in September from 52 in August. Moreover, the Services PMI edged higher to 46 in the same period from 43.3.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier in the day that Chinese authorities are asking local governments to prepare for the potential downfall of the Evergrande Group. In case China's second-biggest real-estate firm defaults, safe-haven flows could return to markets and make it difficult for AUD/USD to continue to push higher. 

Technical levels to watch for