AUD Firms As Unemployment Rate Falls

AUD is the strongest performer in the G-10 space at the margins on Thursday in the Asian session. The economy added 32.6k new jobs in June after an upwardly-revised 76.5k in May. The unemployment rate was steady at 3.5% after May was revised down from 3.6%.

• AUD/USD prints at $0.6830/35, the pair is up ~0.9% today. Resistance comes in at $0.69, the high from June 16 and key resistance, then $0.6936, the high from Feb 16.
• Kiwi is firmer after the bid in AUD spilled over, although the NZD is marginally lagging. NZD/USD is up ~0.7% and sits a touch above the $0.63 handle. Bulls target yesterday's high ($0.6344), a break through here opens the high from 14 July ($0.6412).
• Yen is also firmer, USD/JPY is down ~0.3% and the pair last prints at ¥139.10/20. Japanese trade balance for June was on the wires this morning, a surplus of ¥43.0bn was printed. A deficit of 46.7bn had been expected. Support comes in at ¥137.25, low from Jul 14. Resistance is at ¥139.99 high from Jul 19.
• Elsewhere in the G-10 space, NOK is up ~0.7% however liquidity is generally poor in Asia. EUR is up ~0.2%.
• Cross asset wise; regional equities are little changed from yesterday's closing levels. US Equity futures are pressured albeit off session lows. Netflix lead US Equities lower in post market trade after sales missed Wall St estimates. BBDXY is down ~0.3% and US Tsy Yields are a touch firmer across the curve.
• PPI data from Germany headlines in Europe, further out we have US Initial Jobless Claims.