AUD/USD turns neutral, holding marginally above 0.7700 handle

The AUD/USD pair faded mixed Australian jobs data-led bullish spike to 3-month highs and slipped below 0.7700 handle before recovering few pips to currently trade in neutral territory, around 0.7710-05 band.

During early Asian session on Thursday, the pair gained some fresh traction after better-than-expected rise in the number of employed people during the month of January and a downtick in the unemployment rate. The pair, however, lost its upside momentum as markets seemed disappointed by the details that revealed a drop in full-time employment and strong headline number was primarily driven by a jump in part-time employment. 

Meanwhile, a follow through US Dollar retracement, amid lack of buying interest, lent some support, while a pull-back in the US treasury bond yields further underpinned demand for higher-yielding currencies - like the Aussie, and collaborated towards limiting any further downslide for the major.

Market focus now shifts to a slew of second tier US economic releases – weekly jobless claims, housing starts, building permits and Philly Fed manufacturing index, which would be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities ahead of RBA monetary policy meeting minutes during early Asian session on Friday.

Technical levels to watch

Sustained weakness below 0.7700 handle could get extended towards 0.7680-75 horizontal support below which the pair is likely to head towards 0.7655-50 support area, en-route 0.7625 support area. 

Meanwhile on the upside, renewed strength above 0.7720-25 area now seems to pave way for continuation of the pair’s near-term upward trajectory towards Nov. 2016 daily closing highs resistance near 0.7760 region ahead of 0.7780 resistance.