AUD/USD surrenders gains near 0.6550 ahead of Australia’s Building Permits, Trade Data

• AUD/USD struggles to gain ground near 0.6550 on the firmer USD.
• US ADP private payrolls rose 103K in November vs. 106K prior, weaker than expected.
• The weaker Australian growth number supports the expectation that the RBA will hold the cash rate at 4.35% for some time.
• Australia’s Building Permits and Trade Data for October will be due on Tuesday ahead of the US weekly Jobless Claims data. 

The AUD/USD pair surrenders gains and hovers around 0.6550 during the early Asian session on Thursday. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) extends its upside above 104.15 despite lower US Treasury bond yields and downbeat US economic data. The pair currently trades near 0.6551, up 0.01% on the day.

On Wednesday, the US ADP private payrolls rose 103K in November from a downwardly revised 106K in October, worse than the expectation of 130K. The report suggested that employment momentum in the US had slowed. Traders will take more cues from the weekly Jobless Claims ahead of the highly-anticipated Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP).

On the other hand, the Australian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the third quarter (Q3) rose 0.2% QoQ, below the market consensus of 0.4% expansion. On an annual basis, the growth number came in stronger than expected, growing 2.1% YoY from 2.0% in the previous reading. The slowdown in GDP growth during the last two quarters signals a wider weakening in the economy to a slower-than-expected rate of expansion. The report supports the expectation that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will hold the cash rate at 4.35% for some time.

Australia’s Building Permits and Trade Data for October will be released on Thursday. Later in the day, the US weekly Jobless Claims data will be the highlight. These data could give a clear direction to the AUD/USD pair.