Australian Dollar sticks to stronger jobs data-inspired gains, lacks bullish conviction

• The Australian Dollar gets a minor lift from the mixed Australian employment data on Thursday.
• The number of employed people rose by 50.2K, while the Unemployment Rate ticks higher to 4.1%. 
• The emergence of some USD buying keeps a lid on any meaningful upside for the AUD/USD pair.

The Australian Dollar (AUD) attracts some buyers following the release of a relatively stronger domestic jobs report during the Asian session on Thursday, which keeps another rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on the table. Apart from this, the underlying bullish sentiment surrounding the global equity markets further benefits the risk-sensitive Aussie. That said, a combination of factors might keep a lid on any meaningful appreciating move for the AUD/USD pair. 

Against the backdrop of rising economic headwinds in China, falling copper prices could act as a headwind for the resources-linked Australian Dollar. The US Dollar (USD), on the other hand, gains some positive traction and reverses a part of the precious day's heavy losses to a nearly four-month low. This, in turn, makes it prudent to wait for some follow-through buying before confirming that the AUD/USD pair's recent corrective slide from a multi-month peak has run its course. 

Daily Digest Market Movers: Australian Dollar is underpinned by stronger domestic employment figures

• The official data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this Thursday showed that the Unemployment Rate rose to 4.1% in June as compared to expectations and the previous figure of 4.0%.
• A slight disappointment, however, was offset by an unexpected rise in the number of employed people, from 39.7K in May to 50.2K in June, well above consensus estimates pointing to a reading of 20.0K.
• The mixed data, however, does little to influence expectations about the Reserve Bank of Australia's next policy move, albeit provides a modest lift to the Australian Dollar and the AUD/USD pair.
• The US Dollar, on the other hand, attracts some buyers and reverses a part of the previous day's heavy losses to a nearly four-month trough, which keeps a lid on any meaningful gains for the major.
• Meanwhile, a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is fully priced in and investors are betting on the possibility of two rate cuts by year-end, which should cap the upside for the USD. 

Technical Analysis: AUD/USD bears need to wait for convincing break below an ascending trend-line support

From a technical perspective, the AUD/USD pair bounces off support marked by an upward-sloping trend line.  This, along with another ascending trend line, constitutes the formation of an ascending wedge – a pattern with a bearish tendency. Moreover, oscillators on the said daily chart have just started drifting in the negative territory and suggest that the attempted recovery runs the risk of fizzling out rather quickly. 

Hence, any subsequent move up is more likely to attract some sellers near the mid-0.6700s and remain capped. Some follow-through buying, however, has the potential to lift spot prices back towards the 0.6800 mark, or a multi-month peak touched last week. A sustained strength beyond the latter will negate the near-term negative outlook and pave the way for the resumption of the prior well-established uptrend.

On the flip side, the aforementioned trend-line support, currently pegged near the 0.6700 round figure, could act as immediate support. This is followed by the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), around the 0.6665 region, which if broken decisively will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders. The AUD/USD pair might then accelerate the fall towards the 100-day SMA support near the 0.6600 mark.