AUD/JPY tumbles on risk aversion, sees 84.21 briefly

AUD/JPY still prone to the downside, falling in Tokyo trading.
Aussie jobs data on Thursday could give AUD breathing room.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

AUD/JPY is down in Tokyo trading, falling against the Yen before retracing slightly and currently trading around 84.45.

The Aussie dropped following a contraction in consumer confidence, and even though markets shook this off fairly quickly as analysts at Westpac noted that the swing was mostly due to volatility and dips in the Australian stock market, instead of instrinsic factors of the Australian economy itself. Despite this, AUD is still losing ground to the Yen, as a quick round of risk aversion has taken the top off riskier or commodity-based currencies and given a boost to the Yen, the markets' safe haven of choice.

Risk aversion has cooled off for now, with the Nikkei paring back the quick loss it experienced in early Tokyo trading today, but the effect is still being felt in JPY currency pairs, which are retracing but still lower.

Australia will be releasing employment figures on Thursday at 01:30 GMT, and an upbeat release would give the Aussie a big boost, as middling economic data from the country has left AUD hanging against its major counterparts.

AUD/JPY Technicals

Intraday barriers are priced in at yesterday's high/low, 85.60 and 84.28 respectively, while Dailyt candles show a pair trading down into heavy support from 84.30. With downward pressure accelerating, and the 34 EMA getting ready to close below the 200-day SMA, potential for a bearish breakdown in AUD/JPY is growing steadily.

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

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