AUD/USD hammered down to near 11-year lows, further below mid-0.6600s

• AUD/USD meets with some fresh supply on the disappointing Aussie unemployment rate.
• The ongoing USD bullish run to multi-year tops further contributed to the bearish bias.

The AUD/USD pair added to its intraday losses and tumbled to fresh multi-year lows, around the 0.6630 region during the early European session on Thursday.

Following an early uptick to the 0.6700 neighbourhood, the pair came under some fresh selling pressure and added to this week’s losses after the latest Aussie jobs report showed a higher than expected unemployment rate.

Aussie further weighed down by stronger USD

This coupled with the PBoC’s move to cut its benchmark loan prime rate later on Thursday exerted some additional downward pressure on the China-proxy Australian dollar and contributed to the pair’s sharp intraday slide.

The pair tumbled to its lowest level since March 2009 and was further pressurized by the ongoing US dollar bullish run. In fact, the key USD Index climbed to near three-year tops and remained supported by stronger-than-expected US economic data.

Meanwhile, possibilities of some short-term trading stops being triggered below the previous swing lows support near the 0.6660 region might have further contributed towards aggravating the bearish pressure around the major.

It will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to find any support at lower levels or the current fall marks a fresh bearish breakdown, setting the stage for an extension of the downward trajectory witnessed since the beginning of this year.

Technical levels to watch