- USD was the catalyst overnight on the FOMC minutes.
- AUD/NZD bulls seeking a break of resistance as attention turns to Aussie jobs.
AUD/NZD is up on the session some 0.14% but trading in no man's land while stuck between resistance and support on a daily basis.
The cross has moved between a low of 1.0763 and 1.0783 on the day following a better bid day overnight. The Kiwi underperformed, NZD/USD down -1% to 0.7170, leaving AUD/NZD up 20 pips at 1.0770.
The focus on the day, however, was away from the commodity complex that struggled in a strong dollar environment as the spotlight fell on the Federal Reserve and greenback.
''The FOMC minutes mostly reiterated the April meeting policy statement and Chair Powell's press conference comments, '' analysts at Westpac acknowledged.
The minutes stated that 'the economy was still far from the Committee's longer-run goals.''
However, there was a hint of hawkishness.
''The surprise element came from 'a number of participants' indicating that 'if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee's goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchase''' the analysts said.
The analysts noted that this contrasted with Powell’s recent comments that they were “not even thinking about thinking about tapering”.
Meanwhile, we look ahead to this session's key data. Australia’s April labour force survey will be released.
Analysts at Westpac have said that ''on the positive side are the robust jobs vacancies data and surging employment indicators pointing to strong demand for labour.'' On the negative side, the analysts said ''are the ending of JobKeeper and the languishing of tourism and hospitality industries in the CBDs in particular.''