- The AUD/USD pair falls back to 0.6580.
- Australian employment data and Fed meeting results had boosted the pair early on Thursday.
- However, encouraging data from the US caused AUD/USD to fall again during the US session.
The AUD/USD pair traded lower again during the US session on Thursday, after relatively encouraging US data helped the US Dollar (USD) regain lost ground.
The pair had been rising after the Australian dollar (AUD) received a boost from data showing an unexpected drop in Australian unemployment and a much larger-than-expected rise in the number of people in employment in Australia.
The release of US PMI data for March, initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index provided support for the dollar and caused the pair to fall, approaching the day's lows at 0.6580.
The US S&P Global Composite PMI stood at 52.2, above the 50 level that distinguishes expansion from contraction. The US manufacturing PMI stood at 52.5, beating estimates and previous numbers. The services PMI, however, came in below expectations and previous results, at 51.7 in March.
The Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey came in at 3.2, above estimates, and initial jobless claims, 210,000, were below forecasts, 215,000.
AUD/USD rose on Wednesday, boosted by weakness in the US dollar (USD) following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) March policy meeting.
At the meeting, the Fed reaffirmed that it would continue to cut interest rates by about three-quarters of a percentage point in 2024, despite speculation that it would taper rate cuts due to recent warmer-than-expected inflation readings.
Early Thursday, the pair continued to rise after news that Australia added 116,500 new employees in February and saw its unemployment rate fall to 3.7% from 4.1%, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The figures exceeded the expectations of economists, who predicted an increase of 40,000 employees and an unemployment rate of 4.0%.
The data supports the outlook for the Australian economy, is likely indicative of higher wage inflation ahead and suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will need to keep interest rates higher for longer. Higher interest rates are positive for currencies as they attract greater inflows of foreign capital.
The technical picture shows the AUD/USD pair oscillating in a range between approximately 0.6480 and 0.6650.
Australian Dollar vs US Dollar – 4-Hour Chart
Currently, the pair is revolving around range highs and appears vulnerable to selling.
If it continues to decline, it could return to the base of the range. Alternatively, a break above the 0.6668 highs would confirm a higher high and the formation of a short-term uptrend.
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.
