Aussie jobs preview - what to expect in AUD/USD?

Currently, AUD/USD is trading at 0.7508, down -0.05% on the day, having posted a daily high at 0.7520 and low at 0.7503.

Fed's Beige Book: Majority of Fed districts described labor markets as tight

AUD/USD lost ground overnight on the back of a resurgence in the greenback and US fixed income yields that moved up with the 10yr yield adding +7bp to 2.395. However, the US data was mixed, Yellen was not offering anything new into the mix and the Aussie stablised before bears could break below the 0.75 handle while markets are still cautious around the “Trump reflation trade” and broadly long of dollars still. 

Fed's Yellen expects rates to be close to longer-run neutral rate of 3 pct by end of 2019

For the day ahead, after the ECB, we are looking for US housing starts and Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaking again for the last time ahead of Trump's inauguration to the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Meanwhile in the Asian shift, we will contend with Aussie jobs as the main event. 

The December employment report will be a key data point considering the slump in the Australian economy reported in Q3 and the RBA's focus on the jobs market as a critical component to a recovery in the economy. It is expected that Australia  added 10.0K new jobs in the month, and the unemployment rate steady at 5.7%. 

AUD/USD levels to monitor

Valeria Bednarik, chief analyst at FXStreet noted that the pair is developing within a strong ascendant channel ever since the month started, with the base of the figure for this Thursday around 0.7500, which, she said, means intraday declines towards the level will hardly affect the dominant trend - "Below it, however, the pair can quickly fall down to 0.7450, a major long term static support."

Analysts at Westpac also explained that  a short term peak appears to be in place at 0.7570. "Should risk aversion build, the 0.7430-50 should provide support." On a medium term view, the analysts are looking for the Aussie to break below  0.7200. 

Analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman explained that  0.7425 is key,  "A loss of this area could be a preliminary sign that the upside correction is over."

Current price is 0.7509, with resistance ahead at 0.7512 (Daily Open), 0.7520 (Daily High), 0.7532 (Daily Classic PP), 0.7537 (Hourly 20 EMA) and 0.7563 (Monthly High). Next support to the downside can be found at 0.7509 (Hourly 100 SMA), 0.7505 (Yesterday's Low), 0.7503 (Daily Low), 0.7500 (Daily 100 SMA) and 0.7500 (Daily 200 SMA).