Trading the Core Price Action

AUD/USD holds steady around the 0.7000 psychological mark during the Asian session on Thursday and moves little following the release of Australian data, which showed that the Trade Surplus rose to $3,373 million in December from $2,597 million. This, along with the RBA's hawkish outlook, acts as a tailwind for the Aussie. Meanwhile, the US Dollar stands firm near a two-week high, capping the upside for the currency pair as traders now look to the US JOLTS Jobs Openings data for a fresh impetus.

The USD/JPY pair extends the rally to around 156.85 during the early Asian session on Thursday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens to a two-week low against the US Dollar amid concern over Japan's fiscal health under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's expansionary spending policy. Traders will closely monitor Japan's snap elections scheduled for Sunday.

Gold price jumps to around $5,005 during the early Asian session on Thursday. The precious metal rebounds following a period of intense volatility. Traders weigh the next round of US economic signals and the broader demand for safe-haven assets.

Dogecoin holds near support at $0.1000 at the time of writing on Wednesday, as bears tighten their grip on assets across the crypto market. The leading meme coin remains on the back foot, weighed down by risk-off sentiment, low retail activity and weak technicals.

Tech just got hit with a different kind of selloff. Not the usual rates tantrum, not a recession whisper, not even an earnings miss in the classic sense. This was the market staring into an AI mirror and recoiling at its reflection.

United States (US) ADP Employment Change report revealed that the private sector added 22K jobs in January, falling short of expectations of 48K.