AUD/USD turns negative after dismal Aussie jobs data
- Australian economy added far fewer jobs than expected in March.
- AUD/USD prints session lows below the 50-day moving average (MA).
The Aussie dollar ran into bids after the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)reported a drop in full-time jobs growth.
Key points (Source: Reuters)
- March employment +4.9k s/adj (Reuters poll: +21.0k)
- March unemployment rate 5.5 pct, s/adj (Reuters poll: 5.5 pct)
- March full-time employment -19.9k s/adj
- March participation rate 65.5 pct, s/adj (Reuters poll: 65.7 pct)
- February employment revised to -6.3k, from +17.5k
The weaker-than-expected headline figure, drop in the full-time employment and the downward revision of the previous month's jobs number has not gone down well with the investors. The AUD/USD turned lower from 0.78 and fell to a session low of 0.7774. As of writing, the currency pair is trading around the 50-day moving average (MA) located at 0.7778.
The Aussie 10-year government bond yield has retreated from the session high of 2.80 percent to 2.78 percent post the release of the dismal Aussie employment data.
AUD/USD Technical Levels
A break below 0.7772 (5-day moving average) would open up downside towards 0.7749 (10-day MA) and 0.7726 (April 5 high). On the higher side, only a daily close above 0.7795 (100-day MA) would signal a continuation of the rally from 0.7643 (March 29 low) and could yield a rally to 0.79 (psychological level) and 0.7916 (March 14 high).