AUD/USD drops to fresh weekly lows near 0.7700 on broad USD strength

• AUD/USD extended its slide in the second half of the day.
• US Dollar Index looks to end the week above 91.00.
• Wall Street's main indexes trade in the negative territory.

After spending the first half of the day in a relatively tight range around 0.7770, the AUD/USD pair under renewed bearish pressure during the American trading hours and dropped to a fresh weekly low of 0.7704. At the moment, the pair is losing 0.62% at 0.7716 and remains on track to finish the week in the red.

DXY jumps above 91.00 

The USD's market valuation continues to drive AUD/USD's movements ahead of the weekend. Boosted by upbeat macroeconomic data releases and month-end flows, the US Dollar Index climbed to its highest level since April 23 at 91.28 and was last seen rising 0.63% at 91.21.

The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported on Friday that Personal Income in March surged by 21.1% and Personal Spending increased by 4.2%. Both of these readings came in stronger than analysts' estimates. Additionally, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, rose to 1.8% on a yearly basis from 1.4% in February as expected. 

Finally, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index improved to 88.3 (final) in April from 84.9 in March.

In the meantime, Wall Street's main indexes are down between 0.4% and 0.6% on the day, making it difficult for the risk-sensitive AUD to find demand and stage a recovery.

Technical levels to watch for