AUD/JPY flirts with weekly bottom near 83.00 ahead of China PMI data

AUD/JPY defends the 83.00 threshold amid a subdued Asian morning on Wednesday. The cross-currency pair marked a two-day downtrend by the end of Tuesday by refreshing the weekly low amid Australia’s coronavirus (COVID-19) woes and sluggish market sentiment. The latest consolidation could be linked to the anxiety ahead of the key data from Australia’s biggest customer China.

With nearly 4.0% of fully vaccinated Australians risking a widespread infection of the Delta covid variant, Aussie policymakers have announced activity restrictions covering around 80% of the national population. Even so, the government has been criticized on the grounds of inoculations and is tracing more clues of the pandemic, recently found one in Queensland.

The virus resurgence also probes economies in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, not to forget South Africa and Brazil, with slower jabbing be the key risk.

Elsewhere, strong US consumer sentiment and housing data seemed to have backed the Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s hawkish comments on the Bloomberg TV interview. “In favor of tapering MBS before Treasuries, tapering MBS is an easier sell to the public as the housing market is hot,” said Weller per Reuters.

It’s worth observing that the US 10-year Treasury yields and Wall Street benchmarks have turned sluggish of late as traders await China’s June month PMI data as well as an early signal of Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP), namely US ADP Employment Change.

While forecasts suggest another downbeat figure from Beijing, likely weighing on the AUD/JPY prices, any upside surprises may help consolidate the latest losses.

Read: ADP Nonfarm Payrolls Preview: Going contrarian? How to trade this leading indicator

Other than the data from the US and China, Japan’s covid woes and challenges to the BOJ’s easy money policy may also direct short-term AUD/JPY moves. However, major attention will be given to Friday’s US NFP as markets brace for Fed’s monetary policy adjustments.

Technical analysis

AUD/JPY remains directed to the 83.30 horizontal support, comprising multiple levels since mid-February, unless crossing the 100-day SMA surrounding 83.95, also the previous week’s top near 84.25.