AUD/USD: No response to Aussie Q4 wage growth data

Aussie wage growth for the fourth quarter matched estimates.
The data for the pre-virus period failed to move the needle on the Australian currency.
The Aussie labor market report, due this Thursday, could yield big moves in the Aussie pairs.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

AUD/USD has barely moved in response to the Aussie wage growth data for the fourth quarter released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 00:00 UTC.

The data showed wages growth sticking at 0.5% quarter-on-quarter and 2.2% year-on-year as expected, leaving the AUD/USD unaffected around 0.6692, the level where it was trading before the data was released.

The lackluster market reaction is not surprising, given the fourth quarter wage growth largely reflects the pre-coronavirus period and look outdated.

The focus now is on the labor market data scheduled for release on Friday. the economy is forecasted to have added 10k jobs in January and the jobless rate is expected to have risen slightly to 5.2% from 5.1% previously.

The Aussie could face selling pressure while heading into Thursday's labor market report, courtesy of virus-led risk-off tone in the equity markets and the dovish RBA minutes released Tuesday.

The US stocks dropped on Tuesday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing over 0.5%. Meanwhile, the minutes flagged concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak and noted there was a case for further cuts as lower rates could “speed progress towards the bank's inflation and employment goals.

It's worth noting that the markets are currently pricing a quarter-point rate cut by October.

Technical levels

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.6691
Today Daily Change	0.0002
Today Daily Change %	0.03
Today daily open	0.6689

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.6737
Daily SMA50	0.6842
Daily SMA100	0.6829
Daily SMA200	0.6853

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.6718
Previous Daily Low	0.6673
Previous Weekly High	0.6751
Previous Weekly Low	0.6661
Previous Monthly High	0.704
Previous Monthly Low	0.6682
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.669
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.6701
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.6668
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.6648
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.6623
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.6713
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.6738
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.6758

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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