AUD/JPY probes intraday high above 76.50 on upbeat Aussie jobs report

• AUD/JPY bounces off 76.49 to 76.67 as Australia’s July month employment data beat expectations.
• Aussie Unemployment Rate drops below 7.8% forecast to 7.5%, Employment Change crosses 40K market consensus with 114.7K figures.
• Market sentiment sours amid mixed catalysts and a light calendar.
• US stimulus, coronavirus and trade headlines become the key to watch.

AUD/JPY rises to 76.67, currently around 76.60, following Australia’s welcome prints of the employment data on early Thursday. However, challenges to the risk-tone sentiment seem to question the pair’s upside following the two consecutive days of rise. Additionally, downbeat prints of Australia’s Consumer Inflation Expectations also weigh on the quote.

Read: Australian July Unemployment Rate arrives at 7.5% vs. expected 7.8%

Not only the price-positive Aussie jobs data but receding strength of the coronavirus (COVID-19) wave 2.0 in Victoria also favor the pair bulls. The second most populous state of Australia marks a sustained weakness in pandemic numbers above 400. Though, fears of unknown cases among the healthcare workers, as cited by The Guardian, question optimism.

Elsewhere, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and US President Donald Trump alleged opposition Democratic Party for the delay in the much-awaited aid package. Though, President Trump’s economic optimism could be cited as restricting the bears. Furthermore, the Trump administration’s showcase of stealth bombers near Vietnam and trade attacks on Europe played their role to confuse the market players.

It’s worth mentioning that the trading sentiment rallied the previous day as US inflation data marked upbeat figures amid policymakers’ claim that they’re far from the recession.

Amid all these catalysts, S&P 500 Futures ease from the six-month high to 3,368 while stocks in Japan gain 1.68% but Australia’s ASX 200 drop 0.27% to 6,105 as we write.

Looking forward, a lack of major data/events will keep traders searching for risk catalysts concerning the US stimulus, Sino-American tussle and COIVD-19 for fresh impulse.

Technical analysis

Although an eight-day-old ascending trend line suggests the pair’s run-up to 77.00, an upward sloping resistance line from July 24, at 76.75, and the previous month’s top near 76.90 can probe the bulls.