Created
: 2024.04.19
2024.04.19 08:21
The Aussie Dollar is on the defensive against the US Dollar, as Friday's Asian session commences. On Thursday, the antipodean clocked losses of 0.21% against its counterpart, driven by Fed officials emphasizing they're in no rush to ease policy. The AUD/USD trades at 0.6419 at the time of writing.
A reflection of that was Wall Street's finishing in the red. On Thursday, Atlanta's Fed President Raphael Bostic was hawkish, questioning that they could not be able to cut rates towards the end of the year. His colleague, John Williams from the New York Fed, said that the current policy is in a good place and that patience is required before lowering rates. Although he doesn't consider hiking rates as his base scenario, he added the Fed would raise them if needed.
US data revealed that manufacturing activity is gaining steam. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index experienced a significant increase, jumping to 15.5, far surpassing the modest expectation of 1.5, its highest level since April 2022. In the jobs market, Initial Jobless Claims for the last week were unchanged at 212K, while Continuing Claims edged up to 1.812 million, below estimates.
Given the solid fundamental backdrop, traders had priced in two rate cuts by the Fed for 2024. Data from the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) shows investors project the Federal funds rate (FFR) to end at 5.07%.
On the Aussie front, jobs data declined by 6.6K in March, missing estimates, while the unemployment rate edged up from 3.7% to 3.8%. According to ANZ Analysts, "the labour market may be running slightly hotter than the RBA forecast at the time of its February Statement on Monetary Policy. The RBA was forecasting employment growth to slow to 2.0% y/y and the unemployment rate to reach 4.2% by the end of the June quarter this year."
The AUD/USD has shifted bearishly after the exchange rate fell below the latest cycle low of 0.6442 on February 13, the previous year-to-date (YTD) low. Hence, a continuation is expected, but sellers must surpass the 0.6400 mark. A breach of the latter will expose the November 10, 2023, daily low of 0.6338 an intermediate support level, followed by a major cycle low printed on October 26, 2023, at 0.6270. On the other hand, buyers need to push prices toward the 0.6500 figure, if they would like to remain hopeful of higher prices.
Created
: 2024.04.19
Last updated
: 2024.04.19
FXStreet is a forex information website, delivering market analysis and news articles 24/7.
It features a number of articles contributed by well-known analysts, in addition to the ones by its editorial team.
Founded in 2000 by Francesc Riverola, a Spanish economist, it has grown to become a world-renowned information website.
We hope you find this article useful. Any comments or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
We are also looking for writers with extensive experience in forex and crypto to join us.
please contact us at [email protected].
Disclaimer:
All information and content provided on this website is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to solicit any investment. Although all efforts are made in order to ensure that the information is correct, no guarantee is provided for the accuracy of any content on this website. Any decision made shall be the responsibility of the investor and Myforex does not take any responsibility whatsoever regarding the use of any information provided herein.
The content provided on this website belongs to Myforex and, where stated, the relevant licensors. All rights are reserved by Myforex and the relevant licensors, and no content of this website, whether in full or in part, shall be copied or displayed elsewhere without the explicit written permission of the relevant copyright holder. If you wish to use any part of the content provided on this website, please ensure that you contact Myforex.
Myforex uses cookies to improve the convenience and functionality of this website. This website may include cookies not only by us but also by third parties (advertisers, log analysts, etc.) for the purpose of tracking the activities of users. Cookie policy