AUD/USD jumps 30 pips on better-than-forecast Australia employment report, PBoC status quo

AUD/USD takes the bids to refresh intraday high around 0.6825 while posting a quick 25 pip jump on the upbeat Australian jobs report for June. Adding strength to the Aussie pair’s upside move could be the US Dollar’s failure to defend the two-day recovery from a 15-month low amid mixed clues about the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and China. With this, the Aussie pair prints the first daily gains in five at the latest.

That said, Australia’s headline Employment Change rose by 32.6K versus 15K expected and 75.9K prior whereas the Unemployment Rate eased to 3.5% compared to the market’s forecast of staying unchanged at 3.6%.

Also read: Breaking: Australian Unployment Rate drops to 3.5 % in June vs. 3.6% expected

Earlier in the day, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) kept its benchmark Loan Prime Rates (LPRs) unchanged during today's Interest Rate Decision. That said, the one-year and five-year LPRs are held intact at 3.55% and 4.20% respectively at the latest. The Chinese central bank, however, eased restrictions on cross-border funding by lifting the adjustment parameter for firms to 1.5 from 1.25.

Elsewhere, the latest comments from a China diplomat and the US preparations for curbing investment and AI chip exports to China renew fears of the Sino-American tussles and weigh on the sentiment, as well as challenge the AUD/USD bulls due to Canberra-Beijing ties.

On the contrary, top-tier and regional banks from the US suggest an increase in profits due to higher rates while front-line tech shares also cheered the downbeat yields. However, the fears of higher for longer rates and a lack of major data/events checked the optimists.

Against this backdrop, the S&P500 Futures print mild losses whereas the US Treasury bond yields trade mixed at the weekly low. Further, the US Dollar Index (DXY) drops 0.25% intraday to retest the 100.00 round figure while snapping a two-day rebound from the lowest level since April 2022 as Fed concerns remain mixed with the recently downbeat US housing and consumer spending data.

Moving on, headlines about China and the Fed will be crucial to determine short-term AUD/USD moves while the US Initial Jobless Claims and Existing Home Sales will decorate the economic calendar.

Technical analysis

A fortnight-old ascending support line, around 0.6760 by the press time, restricts immediate downside of the AUD/USD pair, allowing it to again aim for the double tops surrounding the 0.6900 round figure.