AUD/USD steadies following RBA Minutes, cooling US labor data

• The Australian Dollar steadies after hawkish-leaning RBA Minutes.
• Fresh US data point to a cooling labor market.
• AUD/USD trades steady ahead of Australia's Wage Price Index and the delayed US NFP report.

AUD/USD trades steady on Tuesday, around 0.6490 at the time of writing, virtually unchanged on the day. The Australian Dollar (AUD) maintains a mild upward bias after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) published Minutes showing policymakers see no urgency to cut the Official Cash Rate (OCR) as domestic demand remains robust and inflation pressures persist. However, the central bank also noted that monetary easing could be considered if growth weakens further or if labor-market conditions deteriorate materially.

Markets now turn their attention to Australia's third-quarter Wage Price Index, due Wednesday, with expectations for a 0.8% QoQ and 3.4% YoY increase. A result in line with forecasts would reinforce the view of a cautious, data-dependent RBA, limiting the prospects of rapid rate cuts.

On the US side, the US Dollar (USD) struggles to gain momentum after several mixed data releases earlier in the day. ADP figures showed that private-sector payrolls declined by an average of 2,500 jobs per week over the four weeks ending November 1, following a sharper drop in the previous period. Meanwhile, the latest Initial Jobless Claims, for the week of October 18, came in at 232,000, while Continuing Claims climbed to 1.957 million, both pointing to a softening labor market. Added to this, August Factory Orders rose 1.4% after a 1.3% contraction in July, though the rebound had little market impact.

These indicators come as investors await Thursday's delayed Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report for September, a key release for refining expectations around Federal Reserve (Fed) policy. According to the CME FedWatch tool, markets currently price in around a 43% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in December, reflecting heightened caution as the economic outlook cools.