AUD/USD slides towards 0.6900 on surprise fall in Australia’s Employment Change

• AUD/USD takes offers to refresh intraday low, stays pressured around weekly bottom.
• Australia’s Employment Change marked -40.9K figure, Unemployment Rate eased to 3.4% in July.
• Market sentiment remains divided amid softer yields, mixed equities.
• Headlines surrounding China, Taiwan joined slightly dovish Fed Minutes to test bears earlier.

AUD/USD bears the burden of another downbeat job number during Thursday’s Asian session, not to forget the fresh concerns surrounding Taiwan. That said, the Aussie pair remains pressured around 0.6935, after refreshing the daily low to 0.6924, by the press time.

Australia’s headline Employment Change dropped to -40.9K versus 25K expected and 88.4K prior while Unemployment Rate eased to 3.4% versus 3.5% expected and prior. Also, the Participation Rate declined to 66.4% versus 66.8% market forecasts and previous readings.

Also read: Breaking: Aussie jobs data was dismal in whole and a weight on AUD/USD

It’s worth noting that Aussie Wage Price Index for the second quarter (Q2) exerted downside pressure on the AUD/USD prices the previous day. That said, the data flashed 0.7% QoQ growth in Q2 to mark the fastest pace of growth since September 2014. However, the figures remain dismal when compared to the inflation numbers, which in turn justify the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) recently cautious comments.

Other than the Aussie employment data, mixed concerns surrounding China also favor AUD/USD sellers.

Earlier in the day, China Securities News mentioned, “China may issue 1.5 trillion yuan in additional debt as part of an investment push.”

On the contrary, the latest comments from the US Trade Representative’s office stating, “Early this autumn, the US and Taiwan will begin formal negotiations on a trade initiative,” seem to renew the fears of the US-China tussle and weigh on the sentiment.

On the same line were the statements from a top US diplomat for East Asia Kritenbrink who said, “The US is committed to maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan strait.”

It should be noted that the Fed Minutes probed the US dollar bulls the previous day as it said, per Reuters, that officials were ready to slow the pace of interest rate hikes in tandem with signals of a slowdown in inflation. However, firmer US Retail Sales for July seemed to have exerted downside pressure on the AUD/USD prices.

Amid these plays, the US 10-year Treasury yields retreated from the weekly top surrounding 2.90%, down one basis point (bp) to 2.89% by the press time. Further, the S&P 500 Futures print mild losses after reversing from a four-month high the previous day.

Moving on, the weekly prints of the US Initial Jobless Claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey for August could entertain the DXY traders. Above all, recession fears and Fed concerns will be crucial to watch for fresh impulse.

Technical analysis

The strongest bearish MACD signals since late June join a clear downside break of the one-month-old bullish channel to keep AUD/USD bears hopeful of revisiting the yearly low of 0.6678. However, 50-DMA and May’s low, respectively around 0.6900 and 0.6825, could act as buffers to the south. Meanwhile, recovery remains elusive until the quote stays below the 200-DMA level around 0.7120. That said, the stated channel’s support line appears immediate resistance around 0.6990.