AUD/USD pauses slide after release of RBA minutes, US ADP payrolls beat

• AUD/USD pauses its slide from the March 8 highs following the release of the RBA minutes. 
• The minutes showed risks to the outlook as more balanced and notably did not mention discussing raising interest rates. 
• US data showed a rise in payrolls commensurate with the US’s solid run of employment data. 

The AUD/USD trades marginally higher in the 0.6510s midweek after pivoting and temporarily pausing its almost-month-long broad slide down from the early March 0.6660 highs. 

The key event for the Australian Dollar was the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting minutes from the March policy meeting on Tuesday. 

In the minutes, a shift in language was noted by the mention, for the first time, that the Board had not considered the option to raise interest rates. 

On monetary policy, the central thrust appeared to be that the Board agreed “it was difficult to either rule in or out future changes in cash rate,” a statement repeated several times in the minutes.

The balance of risks to the outlook had changed and were “a little more even” than previously, it was noted. 

The minutes showed a shift from a slightly hawkish view to a more “neutral stance,” according to analysts at Westpac. 

In the US, data out on Wednesday showed ADP Employment Change private payrolls registered a rise of 184,000 new workers starting jobs in the month of March, beating analysts’ expectations of 148,000. 

The prior month was revised up from 140,000 to 155,000. The data continued the theme of a robust US labor market, which is likely to support the US Dollar (USD) going forward. 

Other data from Australia showed CoreLogic March house prices rose 0.6%, matching February’s monthly gain, while the Melbourne Institute inflation gauge eased to 3.8% YoY from 4.0% YoY.