- Some follow-through USD buying weighed on AUD/USD for the second straight session.
- Upbeat Aussie employment details extended some support and helped limit deeper losses.
The AUD/USD pair held on to its weaker tone through the early European session and is currently placed near one-week lows, just below the 0.6300 mark.
The pair extended the previous day’s retracement slide from five-week tops and edged lower for the second consecutive session on Thursday. Some follow-through US dollar buying interest was seen as one of the key factors exerting some pressure amid the prevailing risk-off mood in the equity markets.
The USD benefitted from its status as the global reserve currency as investors remain concerned that extended COVID-19-induced lockdowns could lead to a deeper economic slowdown. Market worries were further fueled by Wednesday’s dismal US data – retail sales and industrial production figures.
The severity of the collapse in the economic activity further weighed investors sentiment and dampened demand for perceived riskier currencies, including the aussie. However, the above-forecast Australian jobs details for March extended some support to the domestic currency and helped limit deeper losses.
Data released this Thursday showed that the Australian economy added 5.9K jobs in March as against expectations pointing to 40K drop. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged higher to 5.2% from February’s 5.1% and beat the expected print of 5.5% by a big margin.
Moving ahead, market participants now look forward to the release of initial weekly jobless claims data from the US, which will influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.
Technical levels to watch
Share
