AUD/USD sticks to softer Aussie jobs-led weakness, bulls trying to defend 0.6900 handle

 The AUD/USD pair now seems to have entered a bearish consolidation phase and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading band just above the 0.6900 handle, or two-week lows.

The pair extended this week's rejection slide from the key 0.70 psychological mark and lost some additional ground on Thursday - also marking its third day of a negative move in the previous four, in reaction to a slightly softer Aussie jobs report.

The headline figure showed that the economy added 42.3K jobs in May - surpassing even the most optimistic estimates, but failed to impress the bulls as the unexpected jump in employment change was largely contributed by part-time jobs.

Adding to the disappointment, the unemployment rate held steady at 5.2% as against a tick lower to 5.1% expected and signalled some concerns of weakening labour market conditions, presenting a strong case for further RBA rate cut in the coming months.

This against the backdrop of market concerns over a further escalation in the US-China trade tensions kept exerting some downward pressure on the China-proxy Australian Dollar, though a subdued US Dollar demand helped limit further losses, at least for now.

The USD remained on the defensive in the wake of firming expectations that the Fed will eventually move to cut interest rates in 2019, further reinforced by Wednesday softer US consumer inflation figures that added to last week's weaker US jobs report.

It, however, remains to be seen if the pair is able to find any buying interest at lower levels or finally breaks through the mentioned handle and aim back towards challenging multi-month lows amid absent relevant market moving economic releases from the US.

Technical levels to watch