AUD/USD sidelined below 0.7150 ahead of Australian jobs

• US-China trade optimism lifts the Aussie alongside the Wall Street.
• Main focus on the Australian employment figures for a fresh directional move.

The AUD/USD pair is seen consolidating the latest uptick to near 0.7150 region over the last hours, as the bulls await the Australian employment numbers for the next push higher.

The overnight recovery in the Aussie can be mainly attributed to the turnaround in the risk sentiment, as the Wall Street managed to reclaim the green territory amid renewed US-China trade optimism that sent the safe-haven US dollar broadly lower.

The US President Trump’s comments in the US last session, citing that the Trade negotiations are doing well with China, offered a fresh lift to the market sentiment. Subsequently, the USD index fell sharply to just ahead of the 96 handle before recovering to 96.15, where it now wavers.

However, further upside in the spot appears limited as the bulls switch to a wait-and-see mode heading into the key Australian jobs report due at 0030 GMT. The December jobs data is expected to show 16.5k jobs addition in the economy vs. a 37.0k increase seen last while the jobless rate is likely to hold steady at 5.1%.

Further, mixed Australian Markit PMI reports combined with the declines in oil and gold prices also adds to the weight on the commodity-currency, the AUD, keeping the prices in check.

AUD/USD Technical Levels