During Friday's Asian session, the AUD/USD pair trades lower around 0.6410, reversing from the weekly high. The pair is under pressure due to generally positive economic data from the United States (US), elevated US Treasury yields, and conflicting sentiment regarding monetary policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve at its September meeting. In addition, waning US-China optimism and China's economic difficulties exert pressure on the Australian Dollar (AUD) due to the countries' intricate export-trade relations.

The US Initial Jobless Claims indicated favourable employment conditions, which has raised concerns about the country's inflation outlook. For the week ending August 18, the index decreased to 230K, which was 230K less than the previous week's reading of 240K. In July, however, US Durable Goods Orders reported a decrease of 5.2% compared to the market consensus of 4%, a decrease from the 4.4% reading in June.

Following Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday, the AUD/USD pair is weakening due to mixed sentiments regarding additional interest rate increases by the US Fed. In addition, James Bullard, the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, made hawkish comments that supported the U.S. dollar (USD). Bloomberg quotes Bullard as saying, "The reacceleration could exert upward pressure on inflation, making it impossible for the Fed to begin cutting rates any time soon." In contrast, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, indicated at an end to the rate hike trajectory, whereas the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston defended maintaining a bias towards maintaining higher interest rates for an extended period of time.

As Fed Chair Powell's speech approaches, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the performance of the Greenback against six main currencies, continues to extend gains. At the time of writing, the market price is trading up around 104.30. Traders will closely monitor the speeches of central banks for insights into economic conditions and inflation forecasts, which will influence the Federal Reserve's decision regarding future monetary policy.

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