AUD/USD slumps to fresh daily lows near 0.7530 on USD strength
- US Dollar Index advances to mid-94s in the NA session.
- Retail sales data from the U.S. confirms economic strength.
- Australian employment figures disappoint.
The AUD/USD pair, which dropped sharply in the early Asian session following the dismal employment figures from Australia, was able to retrace its losses into the NA session. However, the increasing demand for the greenback weighed on the pair in the last couple of hours and dragged it to a fresh daily low of 0.7530. At the moment, the pair is trading at 0.7532, losing 0.63% on the day.
Although the data from Australia showed that the unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% in May from 5.6%, the 20.6K decrease in the number of full-time employment suggested that the labor market was losing strength.
Later in the day, the monthly report released by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that the retail sales rose 0.8% on a monthly basis in May to beat the market estimate of 0.4% while the import price index grew by 4.3% annually.
In addition to the upbeat data, the dovish stance presented by the ECB and Mario Draghi today caused participants to return to the greenback. After surging to its highest level since late May at 94.50, the US Dollar Index erased a small part of its recent gains and was last seen at 94.38, where it was up 0.9% on the day.
Technical levels to consider
The AUD/USD pair could face the first technical support at 0.7515 (Jun. 1 low) ahead of 0.7475 (May 29 low) and 0.7410 (May 9 low). On the upside, resistances align at 0.7565 (50-DMA), 0.7660 (100-DMA) and 0.7710 (200-DMA).