AUD/USD Analysis: flat around 0.7010 ahead of employment data

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

AUD/USD Current Price: 0.7012

Australia to release June employment data early Thursday.
US data hit the dollar, the poor performance of equities limited the advance.
AUD/USD could reach 0.7100/10 on an upward surprise in employment figures.

The AUD/USD pair is trading barely up daily basis at the end of this Wednesday, recovering from a daily low of 0.6995 on the back of broad dollar’s weakness, although with the upside limited by the poor performance of Wall Street. Another factor keeping the Aussie afloat was the sharp recovery in gold prices, with spot bouncing after nearing the 1,400.00 level to settle around $1,423.00 a troy ounce. Australia released at the beginning of the day the Westpac Leading Economic Index for June, which resulted at -0.08% vs. the previous -0.07%, with the index below trend for a sixth consecutive month.

Australia will release today its June employment data. The economy is expected to have added 10.0K new jobs in the month, after adding 42.3K positions in May. The unemployment rate is foreseen steady at 5.2%, and the same goes for the participation rate, seen unchanged at 66.0%. Beyond the headline, market players will be looking at the change in full-time jobs, as if the headline impress but only because of part-time positions, the positive effect of the report could be quickly diluted.

AUD/USD short-term technical outlook

The AUD/USD pair is technically bearish according to readings in the 4 hours chart, as the intraday advance was contained by selling interest aligned around the 20 SMA. Despite holding above a mild-bullish 100 SMA, technical indicators have resumed their declines after a modest upward correction, the Momentum unable to leave negative territory and the RSI currently at neutral levels. The employment report could trigger some action, as an upward surprise could push the pair beyond 0.7050 and trigger stops, resulting in an advance up to the 0.7100/10 region.

Support levels: 0.6995 0.6950 0.6915

Resistance levels: 0.7050 0.7095 0.7130

View Live Chart for the AUD/USD

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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