AUD/JPY nosedives towards 93.00 as Australia jobs report disappoints, ignores firmer yields, Japan trade data

• AUD/JPY takes offers to refresh weekly low on downbeat Aussie employment report.
• Fears of Japan's intervention, risk-off mood also favors pair sellers.
• Firmer yields, BoJ’s defense of easy-money policy prod downside bias.

AUD/JPY slumps 50 pips on the downbeat Australian employment report for July during early Thursday. Adding strength to the bearish bias are the fears of the Japanese intervention to defend the Yen. The same joins sour sentiment to exert downside pressure on the risk-barometer pair, down 0.67% intraday near 93.35 by the press time.

As per the July month data from the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the headline Employment Change slumped to -14.6K on a seasonally adjusted basis versus 15.0K expected and 32.6K prior whereas the Unemployment Rate edges higher to 3.7% compared to the market’s expectations of once again witnessing 3.5% figure.

On the other hand, Japan’s mixed prints of Merchandise Trade Balance for July and upbeat Machinery Orders for June justifies the latest push to the Japanese policymakers to defend the Yen, which in turn weighs on the AUD/JPY price.

Further, the market’s risk-off mood, mainly due to the hawkish Fed concerns and fears surrounding China, not to forget the recently downbeat global economic concerns, also keep the AUD/JPY bears hopeful.

Alternatively, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) officials’ defense of the ultra-easy monetary policy and the recently firmer Treasury bond yields put a floor under the AUD/JPY prices. That said, Wall Street closed in the red while the US 10-year Treasury bond yields refreshed the yearly top to 4.278%. It should be noted that S&P500 Futures dropped to the lowest level in five weeks by the press time and keep the Aussie bears hopeful of witnessing further downside.

Looking ahead, the risk catalysts will be the key to determining the near-term AUD/JPY moves amid a light calendar elsewhere.

Technical analysis

A clear downside break of a three-week-old rising support line, now immediate resistance around the 94.00 threshold, directs AUD/JPY bears toward an ascending support line from late April, near 92.60 at the latest.