AUD/USD jumps above 0.7240 as softer US wage growth offsets Iran hostilities

AUD/USD climbed despite renewed salvos in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran warned its armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any aggression, though markets showed limited panic.
US Nonfarm Payrolls increased by 115K in April, beating expectations of 62K. Average Hourly earnings decreased to 0.2% MoM, showing a softer wage growth.

Agustin Wazne FXStreet

The AUD/USD pair surged near the 0.7240 region on Friday as traders digest a combination of escalating Middle East tensions and the latest United States (US) labor market data.

Tensions were high at the end of the week after Fox News reported that the US military carried out additional airstrikes on Friday, hitting several empty tankers attempting to break the blockade. According to the report, the strikes were part of broader efforts to maintain US pressure on Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz.

At the same time, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Tehran’s armed forces are “fully prepared and closely monitoring the situation,” adding that “wherever necessary, they will respond with full force to any aggression or provocation.” These headlines briefly lifted safe-haven demand, although the broader market reaction remained relatively muted, with the US Dollar (USD) holding near weekly lows despite the geopolitical escalation.

On another note, the latest US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report showed that the US economy added 115K jobs in April, above market expectations of 62K, while the Unemployment Rate held steady at 4.3%. Average Hourly Earnings fell to 0.2% MoM.

Short-term technical analysis:

On the four-hour chart, AUD/USD trades at 0.7243, holding a constructive bullish bias as it remains above both the 20-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) near 0.7226 and the 100-period SMA around 0.7178. The cluster of nearby supports suggests dips are being absorbed, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 59 stays in positive territory without yet signaling overbought conditions, hinting that upside pressure could persist while these floors hold.

On the topside, immediate resistance is located at 0.7249, where a horizontal barrier caps the advance and needs to be decisively cleared to open the door to a more extended recovery. On the downside, initial support is seen at the 0.7236 horizontal level, followed by the 20-period SMA and overlapping support around 0.7226, with a deeper cushion emerging at 0.7223 and then the 100-period SMA down at 0.7178, where buyers would be expected to defend the broader uptrend.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)

Author

Agustin Wazne

FXStreet

Agustin Wazne joined FXStreet as a Junior News Editor, focusing on Commodities and covering Majors.

GBP/USD clings to multi-day peaks below 1.3500

GBP/USD trades with marked gains on Friday, now giving away some gains following an earlier surpass of the key 1.3500 yardstick. Indeed, Cable gathers fresh steam amid the strong offered stance in the Greenback, all after US NFP badly missed expectations in July.

EUR/USD: Post-NFP bounce falters around 1.1580

EUR/USD reverses Thursday’s decline and trades with solid gains in the 1.1560 region, or two-month peaks, on Friday. The pair’s firm performance comes in a context of a sharp correction in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess disheartening US NFP readings.

How Wall Street rigs the game [Video]

In this week’s Live from the Vault, Andrew Maguire is joined by Peter Antico and Sean Stone to discuss the Paradigm of Money - an in-depth expose of financial market corruption, from naked shorting to the two-tier system that protects Wall Street.

XRP Price Forecast: XRP nears critical $1.00 support

Ripple (XRP) remains pressured on Friday, trading around $1.03 at the time of writing. The token appears to hold this current level as support but lacks a catalyst to sustain a knee-jerk rebound toward the next key resistance at $1.10.

Is Gold about to enter its biggest bull run since 2020?

Gold has stormed back into the spotlight and its next move could leave late buyers chasing. On August 5, the yellow metal surged almost 7% – roughly $174 – to close near $4,308 an ounce, posting one of its biggest daily advances in recent history. A weaker U.S dollar, falling Treasury yields, changing Federal Reserve expectations and renewed safe-haven demand all struck at once.

9-3: Is the Federal Reserve’s vote tally Warsh's new forward guidance?

The rate did not move. Neither did the statement, and that’s the more interesting fact. Set the July 29 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement beside the one issued on June 17, and the two documents are identical apart from a single verb and a paragraph at the bottom naming three dissenters.