AUD/USD struggles to gather upside traction as Aussie jobless rate rises

AUD/USD trades in the red near 0.6995 on dismal Aussie jobs report.
Australia's jobless rate ticked higher to 7.4% and full-time jobs tanked.
The Sino-US tensions keep risk appetite under pressure.

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

The AUD/USD pair is struggling to draw bids as Australia's jobless rate ticked higher in June and full-time employment tanked. The pair is currently trading in the red at 0.6994, having hit a high of 0.7012 before the release of the jobs data.

Australia's jobless rate rose to 7.4% as expected, having increased to 7.1% in May from 6.4% in April and the participation rate rose to 64% versus expectations for 63.6% and 62.9% previous.

Indeed, the Australian economy added 210.8K jobs in June compared to expectations for 112.5K additions, having shed 227.7K jobs in May. However, full-time employment fell by 38.1K following an 89.1K drop in May.

The weak data validates RBA's dovish stance on interest rates. The policymakers clarified in July's meeting that the cash rate will remain flat until progress is made towards full employment and inflation is within the 2%-3% target.

The uptick in the jobless rate coupled with the escalating tensions between the US and China could keep the Aussie dollar under pressure during the day ahead. US President Donald Trump, on Tuesday, signed an executive order to shun Hong Kong’s special trading status and threatened additional steps that got the expected response from China.

As per the latest reports, the US is said to be weighing a sweeping travel ban on Chinese Communist Party members, a move that is likely to prompt sharp retaliation.

The S&P 500 futures are flashing red at press time, a sign of impending risk aversion, that could add to bearish pressures around the Aussie dollar. It seems the optimism generated by the news of coronavirus vaccine has faded.

Technical levels

AUD/USD

Overview
Today last price	0.7
Today Daily Change	-0.0008
Today Daily Change %	-0.11
Today daily open	0.7008

Trends
Daily SMA20	0.6922
Daily SMA50	0.6791
Daily SMA100	0.6539
Daily SMA200	0.668

Levels
Previous Daily High	0.7038
Previous Daily Low	0.697
Previous Weekly High	0.7001
Previous Weekly Low	0.6922
Previous Monthly High	0.7065
Previous Monthly Low	0.6648
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	0.7012
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	0.6996
Daily Pivot Point S1	0.6972
Daily Pivot Point S2	0.6937
Daily Pivot Point S3	0.6904
Daily Pivot Point R1	0.7041
Daily Pivot Point R2	0.7074
Daily Pivot Point R3	0.7109

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

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

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.