AUD/USD technical analysis ahead of the January employment data
It's a big day coming up in Asia-Pacific trading. The top release is the Australian jobs report, which is due at 0030 GMT.
- Jobs expected +13.0K
- Unemployment ex 5.8%
- Prior full time jobs 17.6K
- Prior part time jobs -18.5K
Economists have consistently underestimated the strength of the Australian employment market over the past year.
Technical analysis
The Australian dollar matched the highest since Feb 4 on Wednesday but it hasn't been able to break the previous day's high. It's no big surprise that it couldn't press the upside given the pending event risk.
I think there is a case for selling AUD/USD if the 0.7182 level breaks prior to the release. That would set up a quick run to 0.7210, which is where I would place a sell order in anticipation of a return to current levels.
Given the upbeat backdrop in commodities generally this week, my bias for after the report is released is to buy AUD/USD.
The hourly chart shows why.
Resistance is minimal until 0.7237. If that breaks, there is no significant resistance until 0.7327, which is a level I expect to see tested unless the jobs data is weak.
