AUD/USD remains pressured near nine-month low above 0.7200, Aussie employment eyed

• AUD/USD pokes November 2020 levels, refreshed 2021 bottom during a three-day fall.
• Softer Aussie data, FOMC Minutes weighed on the quote.
• Risk-off mood adds strength to the bearish impulse.
• Australian jobs report may favor sellers amid local lockdowns, qualitative catalysts are also against the bulls.

AUD/USD bears take a breather after a heavy fall since the week-start to refresh multi-month lows ahead of the key Australia employment data. That said, the Aussie pair seesaws around 0.7235, mostly unchanged around the lowest levels since mid-November 2020, flashed the previous day, amid the early Thursday morning in Asia.

Be it the fresh yearly high of covid infections at home or downbeat Wage Price Index for Q2 and Westpac Leading Index data, not to forget the firmer USD, AUD/USD bears have all that’s needed for a good party. The same dragged the quote to print a three-day downtrend and fresh the yearly low the previous day.

Australia’s daily infections inched closer to 700, the fresh high since August 2020, after the daily virus cases from New South Wales (NSW) jumped. On the same line, the covid numbers from New Zealand also rose from one to seven and the virus data from the UK and the US was also nothing less worrisome. The coronavirus woes not only dragged down the Australian dollar (AUD) but also underpinned the US dollar’s safe-haven demand, resulting in the AUD/USD fall.

On the other hand, the Westpac Leading Index for July dropped below -0.07% prior (revised) to -0.11% MoM whereas Wage Price Index for the second quarter of 2020 dropped beneath 0.6% expected and previous readouts to 0.4% QoQ.

Furthermore, Minutes of the July Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting also exerted downside pressure on the AUD/USD prices as it marked divergence from the policymakers’ comments favoring the monetary policy adjustments. In addition to shedding the rate hike concerns, despite supporting the tapering, the dissatisfaction of employment recovery also portrayed pessimism at the Fed.

Elsewhere, geopolitical concerns relating to Afghanistan added strength to the bearish impulse of the AUD/USD due to the pair’s risk-barometer status.

It’s worth noting that the Wall Street benchmarks also closed in red but the US 10-year Treasury yields were sluggish, mildly up, by the end of Wednesday’s North American session.

Given the scheduled release of Aussie Employment Change for July, expected -46.2K versus +29.1K prior, AUD/USD traders may remain cautious ahead of the reading. However, covid woes and dovish expectations from the data, due to the virus-led lockdowns, may keep the bears hopeful.

Read: Australian Employment Preview: A disappointing surprise coming in

Technical analysis

AUD/USD sellers’ rejection to respect October 2020 high as a support, around 0.7245, highlights the mid-November bottom surrounding 0.7220 and the October 23 top of 0.7180 as important supports. Meanwhile, July’s low of 0.7288 acts as an immediate important hurdle to watch during the quote’s rebound.