AUD/USD refreshes session tops on mixed US NFP report, lacks follow-through

The AUD/USD pair added to its modest intraday gains and refreshed daily tops in reaction to mixed US jobs data. The pair was last seen trading with gains of nearly 0.50% for the day, with bulls now looking to build on the momentum beyond the 0.7700 mark.

Following the previous day’s slump, the pair managed to attract some dip-buying on the last trading day of the week and has now bounce nearly 60 pips from the daily swing lows to the 0.7645 area. The intraday uptick picked up pace during the early North American session following the release of the US monthly employment details.

The headline NFP showed that the US economy added 559K new jobs in May, falling short of consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 650K. The negative print, to some extent, was offset by a slight upward revision of the previous month’s reading to 278K from 266K reported earlier. Adding to this, the unemployment rate edged lower to 5.8% from 6.1% in April.

The mixed report did little to reinforce expectations that stronger economic data might force the Fed to begin tapering its bond-purchase program. This was evident from the emergence of some fresh selling around the US dollar, which, in turn, was seen as a key factor that assisted the AUD/USD pair to build on its intraday positive move.

That said, a rather muted reaction in the US fixed income market held investors from placing aggressive USD bets and kept a lid on any runaway rally for the AUD/USD pair. Hence, it remains to be seen if bulls are able to capitalize on the move or the uptick is seen as a selling opportunity at higher levels.

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