Firmer Commodity Prices Support AUD, Labour Market Report On Radar Today

AUD/USD crept higher Wednesday as the greenback went offered across the board, while a firmer commodity complex lent support to the Aussie. BBG Commodity Index surged to fresh multi-year highs, helping AUD forget about underwhelming Chinese activity data.

• Domestic labour market report provides the highlight of today's data docket. Consensus looks for an 80K fall in the headline employment figure, driven by the widespread lockdowns evident during August. Note that the dispersion seen in the BBG survey covering the release is wide, with the range of estimates sitting between -300K and +2K. Elsewhere, New Zealand's GDP is eyed for any trans-Tasman impetus.
• Australia has joined a trilateral security partnership with the U.S. and the UK widely seen as an attempt to counter China's influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The new defence framework will allow Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
• AUD/USD trades at $0.7335, little changed on the day. Bulls look to a move through Sep 10 high of $0.7410, which would clear the way to Sep 3 and the bull trigger at $0.7478. Bears see the 50% retracement of the Aug 20 - Sep 3 rally at $0.7292 as their initial target, followed by the 61.8% retracement of that range at $0.7248.