- AUD/USD marks 17-pip uptick following the Aussie jobs data.
- Australia Unemployment Rate dropped, Employment Change shrank in April.
- Aussie Consumer Inflation Expectations eased for May, PBOC
- FOMC-led risk aversion stays on the table amid covid woes in Asia, mixed geopolitics and trade headlines.
AUD/USD jumps to refresh intraday high to 0.7741, up 0.17% on a day, during early Thursday. The Aussie pair was previously struggling with the risk-off mood before April’s job report triggered a corrective pullback.
Australia’s headlines Employment Change marked a bid miss with -30.6K versus +15K forecast and 70.7K prior but the Unemployment rate saved the day with a 5.5% level compared to 5.6% expected and previous readouts.
Read: Breaking: Aussie jobs big miss on Employment Change, slight improvement on the Unemployment Rate
Other than the Aussie jobs report, the Interest Rate Decision of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and Australia Consumer Inflation Expectations for May also contributed to the AUD/USD moves. While the PBOC matched the wide market forecast of keeping benchmark rate at 3.85%, the Aussie data eased below 3.6% market consensus to 3.5%, versus 3.2% prior.
While the macros favored intraday AUD/USD buyers, US-China tension and Canberra-Beijing tussles test the quote’s upside after the previous day’s downbeat momentum, led by the comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes. Recently, China delayed importing some table grapes from Australia, after raising bars for coal imports, which in turn pushed Aussie Trade Minister Tehan to find the answers to the delay. On the other hand, Nikkei came out with the news conveying the US stopped a shipment on suspicion that the product was made using forced labor in Xinjiang.
Amid these plays, S&P 500 Futures drop 0.30% and the US 10-year Treasury yields also consolidate the previous day’s gains near 1.66% by the press time. Even so, the US dollar index (DXY) struggles for direction after bouncing off late February low the previous day.
Having witnessed the initial market reaction to the key Aussie catalysts, AUD/USD traders will keep their eyes on the tapering and covid related headlines, not to forget trade news, for fresh impulse. Also, the US weekly jobless claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for May can offer additional filters to trading decisions.
Technical analysis
AUD/USD is yet to conquer the key supports, including an ascending trend line from April 13 near 0.7705, preceded by 50-day and 100-day SMAs close to 0.7725 and 0.7715, which in turn backs the pair’s bounce towards 0.7800. However, any further upside needs to cross the 0.7820 hurdle to recall the buyers.