- US November Nonfarm Payrolls beat estimates and wages rose.
- The dollar recovered the 105,000 level, supported by the high yield of US bonds.
- RBA’s Lowe: “Australian inflation expectations are well anchored.”
The Australian dollar (AUD) fell against the US dollar (USD) after the release of a positive United States (US) employment report, which showed rising wages, putting pressure on the Federal Reserve (Fed) to take action. At the time of writing this report, the AUD/USD It is trading at 0.6771 after reaching a daily high of 0.6832.
Positive US jobs data bolstered dollar
US stocks are trading at a loss following the November Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) report. The data showed that the economy added 263,000 new jobs, and those for October were revised up by 284,000, according to the Department of Labor (DoL) report. In the same statement, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 2.7%, while average hourly earnings rose 5.1% yoy, versus the consensus 4.6%, reigniting the spiral of wage inflation, adding more pressure. to the Fed.
The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against six currencies, recovered and gained 0.49% to 105.234, supported by US Treasury yields. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rises nine basis points to 3,599%.
On Thursday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) revealed that US November manufacturing activity contracted to 49.0 from 50.2 the previous month. The figures reignited recession fears, as the report showed new orders are falling, demand has eased and the employment index has contracted. Therefore, investor sentiment eased, as evidenced by US stocks ending the session with losses.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell opened the door for minor rate hikes, reinforcing the statement in the latest meeting minutes that “a substantial majority of participants judged that it would probably soon be a slowdown in the rate of rise is appropriate”. On these observations, AUD/USD reached a new three-month high, although the rally stalled, following the US ISM report.
Earlier in the Asian session, the Australian economic calendar included the release of October Retail Sales, which fell 0.2%m/m, versus a 0.6% expansion, while housing data remained in negative territory, but they were better than expected. Likewise, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philippe Lowe said that inflation expectations in Australia are “well anchored”, adding that domestic spending remains resilient amid higher interest rates, and that the RBA’s decision to moderate rate hikes reflects the delays in monetary policy.
AUD/USD Key Technical Levels
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
