A$ Rebounds On Stronger Employment Data, ECB Decision Later

AUDUSD dipped to 0.6715 driven by weaker equities but then rebounded following stronger-than-expected Australian June employment data. The pair is currently up 0.1% to 0.6736. The report suggested that there was little labour market easing in Q2 and thus increases the risk of another rate hike. The USD is off its intraday low to be little changed.

• June employment printed higher than expected at 50.2k after 39.5k with full-time (FT) driving the increase. The June unemployment rate ticked up to 4.05% from 4.00% leaving Q2 only 0.1pp higher than Q1 (see MNI Economy Strong Enough To Absorb Bulk Of Labour Force Entrants).
• AUDNZD rose to 1.1096 following the Aussie data and is now up 0.2% today to 1.1083. AUDJPY is also 0.2% higher at 105.33 after a low of 104.53 earlier. AUDEUR is up 0.1% to 0.6159 and AUDGBP +0.1% to 0.5180.
• Equities are mixed with the ASX down 0.2% and CSI 300 -0.4% but Hang Seng is up 0.1%. The S&P e-mini is 0.2% higher though. Oil has continued to climb during APAC trading with WTI +0.5% to $83.30/bbl. Copper is 0.2% lower and iron ore is around $104-105/t.
• Later the Fed’s Goolsbee, Logan and Daly appear and the ECB announces its decision (no change expected). There are US jobless claims and July Philly Fed, and UK labour market data.