AUD/USD eases towards 0.7750 as virus woes probe risk-on mood

• AUD/USD fails to extend Tuesday’s gains despite refreshing weekly high early in Asia.
• Aussie Job Vacancies eases to 23.9% in three months to November.
• Record high covid-led deaths in the US, China’s biggest jump in infections join likely medical shortage in London, Germany.
• American Congress stays firm to vote on Trump’s impeachment despite VP Pence’s reluctance.

Having initially refreshed the weekly top to 0.7782, AUD/USD recedes to 0.7767, down 0.10% intraday, during early Wednesday. While previous risk-on mood could be traced for the quote’s run-up, challenges to risks and downbeat employment data from Australia weighed on the AUD/USD prices off-late.

Australia’s Job Vacancies for three months to November dropped below 59.4% prior to 23.4%. The data become additionally negative for AUD/USD as the Aussie government’s employment relief measures expire in March and a weakness in jobs number before that challenges policymakers.

Talking about risks, the US coronavirus (COVID-19) death toll refreshed record high to near 4,500 as per John Hopkins data. On the same line, China’s virus numbers jumped to the highest in five months with 115 new confirmed cases on the mainland (55 the previous day) including 107 local infections. Furthermore, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to declare a state of emergency in seven additional prefectures, per Kyodo News. It’s worth mentioning that the virus has recently posed a serious threat to the health care systems of Britain and Germany.

Other than the virus, US political drama surrounding President Donald Trump’s impeachment and President-elect Joe Biden’s fiscal stimulus also weigh on the risks.

Against this backdrop, the US 10-year Treasury yields drop for the first time in the last seven days but the S&P 500 Futures gains 0.25% to pierce the 3,800 threshold by press time.

While challenges to the risks recently weighed on the AUD/USD prices, US dollar weakness restricts the losses. That said, the US dollar index (DXY) drops for the second day, currently down 0.08% to 89.96.

Given the lack of major catalysts ahead of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) and ECB President Christine Lagarde’s speech, AUD/USD traders may have to keep their eyes on risk headlines for fresh impulse.

Technical analysis

Having failed to extend the latest recovery moves from an ascending trend line from November 02, at 0.7677 now, AUD/USD sellers are again trying to retake the reins from the bulls who target the 0.7800 round-figure as an immediate upside hurdle.