SYDNEY: The Australian dollar failed to recover from the six-year low it hit on the broad greenback rally despite positive employment data on Thursday (12 March) even as charts showed the pair is at a very crucial support.
The AUD/USD slipped to 0.7572 from the previous close of 0.7594 and remained near the low of 0.7560 touched in the previous session, which was its lowest since May 2009.
The USD index has hit the psychologically important 100.0, continuing the upward momentum which got a big boost from last Friday’s (6 March) non-farm payrolls and the comments by a senior Fed official who called for sooner rate increases in the US.
Australian employers added 15,600 staffers to payrolls in February, after cutting 14,600 jobs in January, data showed on 12 March. The market consensus was for 15,000 additions. The unemployment rate fell to 6.3% from 6.4% as expected.
However, revision in January’s employment change was large with a rise in the job cuts from 12,200 to 14,600. Also, the participation rate has dropped to 64.6% in February from 64.7% in the previous month when the market was expecting 64.8%.
