AUD/USD holds steady below 0.7800 ahead of US GDP data

• AUD/USD is posting small daily losses on Thursday.
• US Dollar Index stages a correction following Wednesday's drop.
• Focus shifts to first-quarter GDP and weekly Jobless Claims data from US.

The AUD/USD pair turned north in the second half of the day on Wednesday and closed in the positive territory a little above 0.7800. Ahead of Thursday's key macroeconomic data releases from the US, the pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase and was last seen posting small daily losses at 0.7785. 

Eyes on key data releases from US

On Wednesday, FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell's dovish tone caused the greenback to weaken against its rivals. Powell reiterated that they haven't even yet started talking about tapering and noted that one time increases in inflation would not constitute policy action. The US Dollar Index, which stayed relatively quiet on Monday and Tuesday, lost 0.3% on Wednesday and touched its lowest level since late February at 90.42 during the Asian session on Thursday.

Ahead of the US Bureau of Economic Analysis' first estimate of the first-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, the DXY is trading modestly higher at 90.65, forcing AUD/USD to stay in the red. Markets expect the US economy to grow by 6.1% on a yearly basis. The US Department of Labor's weekly Initial Jobless Claims figures will be featured in the US economic docket as well. 

In the meantime, the S&P 500 Futures are up 0.7%, suggesting that risk flows could remain in control of financial markets in the second half of the day and limit the USD's gains.

Technical levels to watch for