AUD/USD clings to gains near 1-1/2 week tops ahead of US retail sales

• AUD/USD catches some fresh bids and breaks out of its recent trading range.
• US-China trade deal optimism, subdued USD demand remains supportive.
• Traders look forward to the US monthly retail sales data for a fresh impetus.

The AUD/USD pair finally broke out of its multi-day-old trading range and jumped to 1-1/2 week tops, around the 0.6930 region in the last hour.

That signing of the much-anticipated phase one trade agreement between the world's two largest economies helped ease the recent concerns about the global growth and boosted investors’ appetite for perceived riskier assets.

Aussie supported by a combination of factors

The risk-on mood was evident from a positive mood around equity markets, which turned out to be one of the key factors that benefitted the China-proxy Australian dollar and assisted the pair to add to last week's late recovery.

The uptick could further be attributed to some technical buying above the very important 200-day SMA, which took along some short-term trading stops being placed near the 0.6920 region and accelerated the move up amid a subdued US dollar demand.

Moving ahead, market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the release of monthly retail sales data, which should influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch