- AUD/USD consolidates weekly losses around 0.7600 on Friday.
- Retail Sales in Australia fell more than 4% in December.
- US Dollar Index posts small daily losses ahead of NFP data.
The AUD/USD pair closed modestly lower on Thursday and traded below 0.7600 during the Asian trading hours before going into a consolidation phase. As of writing, the pair was up 0.08% on a daily basis at 0.7605.
Earlier in the day, the data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that Retail Sales in December declined by 4.1% on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in its Statement on Monetary Policy noted that it remains committed to keeping its policy “highly supportive” and made it difficult for the AUD to find demand.
DXY edges lower as investors await US jobs report
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index (DXY) is staying relatively quiet after closing the first four days of the week in the positive territory and touching its best level in more than two months at 91.60.
Earlier in the week, the upbeat PMI and Initial Jobless Claims data from the US provided a boost to the greenback and a similar market reaction could be seen if January Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report surpasses the market expectation of +50K. At the moment, the DXY is down 0.15% at 91.40.
Previewing this data, “we expect a solid 250K rebound in employment in January,” said Citibank analysts. “Average hourly earnings should rise 0.3% MoM while the unemployment rate is expected to increase slightly in January, largely reflecting softer employment in the household survey.”
Nonfarm Payrolls Preview: Forecast from 10 major banks for January jobs report.
Technical levels to watch for
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