- AUD / USD remains on the defensive in the American session.
- The US dollar index regains traction after Wednesday’s slide.
- An uninspiring report from the Australian labor market weighed on the AUD.
The pair AUD/USD came under renewed downward pressure during US trading hours and was last seen trading at 0.7417, shedding 0.85% on the day. With a drop below 0.7109, AUD / USD will update to its lowest level since December.
DXY rises above 92.60
Hours earlier, data from Australia showed that the unemployment rate fell to 4.9% in June from 5.1%. Although this reading came out much better than the market expectation of 5.5%, the underlying details of the employment report painted a grim picture. The job change came in at 29,100 after May’s rise of 115,200 and disappointed analysts’ estimate of 30,000. Meanwhile, consumer inflation expectations fell to 3.7% from 4.4%.
In the second half of the day, the general strength of the USD caused the AUD / USD to extend its daily decline. The US dollar index, which lost 0.44% on dovish statements from FOMC Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday, is currently climbing 0.32% to 92.67.
The US Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims decreased to 360,000 in the week ending July 10. Other US data revealed that the New York Empire State Manufacturing Index improved to 43 in July from 17.4 in June and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index fell to 21.9 from 30.7. Finally, Industrial Production expanded 0.7% in June, compared to the market’s expectation of 0.4%.
There will be no high-level data release from Australia on Friday and the USD market valuation is likely to continue to drive AUD / USD action.
Technical levels
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