AUD/USD mostly flat on the day as Aussie fails to capitalize on Fed-fueled Dollar dump

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• The AUD/USD is sticking close to Thursday’s opening prices near 0.6336.
• Aussie bulls are flubbing the opportunity to see gains as the US Dollar broadly loses ground after a dovish Fed Chair Powell.
• The 0.6300 handle continues to see play on the AUD/USD charts, more downside could be on the cards.

The AUD/USD is pointed downwards for Thursday as bids on the Aussie (AUD) continue to test into the 0.6300 handle against the US Dollar (USD), and a surprisingly balanced-to-dovish appearance by the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell is seeing the Greenback roll over against the broader market.

Jerome Powell says higher bond yields are producing tighter financial conditions

Fed head Jerome Powell didn’t give any indication that additional Fed rate hikes were immediately due in course, giving investor sentiment a much-needed boost and driving the US Dollar lower across the board. The Aussie, however, remains unable to capitalize meaningfully on USD weakness, and the AUD/USD pair remains trapped on the low side.

Australian employment figures came in mixed, sapping any upside potential for the Aussie on Thursday; the Australian Unemployment Rate fell to 3.6% in September while the market was expected a steady reading at August’s 3.7%, jobs hiring and the Participation Rate both declined.

Australia added a (seasonally-adjusted) meager 6.7K jobs in September, much lower than the 20K expected, and falling even further below the previous month’s reading of 63.3K, which was also revised down from 64.9.

 The Australian Participation Rate declined to 66.7%, falling below the forecast holding at 67% from August.

AUD/USD Technical Outlook

The Aussie continues to hold on the soft end against the US Dollar, stuck near 0.6330 as a pattern of lower highs continues to weigh on the AUD/USD’s technical stance.

A declining 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) is adding additional price pressures, capping off upside potential and keeping the AUD/USD pinned into 2023’s lows.

The year’s low sits nearby at 0.6285, and there is little in the way of technical support until 2022’s lows near 0.6170 come into view, and a bullish reversal for the AUD/USD will need to first overcome hefty technical resistance from the 0.6400 handle before a further move higher can even be considered.

AUD/USD Daily Chart

AUD/USD Technical Levels