• The Australian Dollar (AUD) extends upside in Thursday’s Asian session. 
• RBA's hawkish hold and rising bets on Fed rate cut support the pair. 
• The US Initial Jobless Claims, Housing data, Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and Fed’s Neel Kashkari speech are due on Thursday. 

The Australian Dollar (AUD) trades in positive territory for the third consecutive day on Thursday. The hawkish stance from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) at its June meeting on Tuesday continues to support the pair. Additionally, weaker-than-expected Retail Sales have fueled speculation for US Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cuts later this year, weighing on the Greenback and creating a tailwind for AUD/USD. 

However, the RBA statement indicated that the economic outlook remains uncertain and the process of taming inflation to target is unlikely to be smooth. Traders will take more cues from the preliminary Australia’s Judo Bank Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for May on Friday. Any sign of weakness in the Australian economy might prompt the Australian central bank to lower its borrowing costs, which might drag the AUD lower. 

On the US docket, investors will watch the release of the US weekly Initial Jobless Claims, Building Permits, Housing Starts, the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index and the Fed’s Neel Kashkari speech on Thursday. On Friday, the preliminary US S&P Global PMI reports for June will be in the spotlight.