Aussie Bulls May Have More to Lose Than Gain From Hiring Data

(Bloomberg) -- The Australian dollar has a recent tendency to underperform on the day that the nation’s latest job data is released. Technical indicators suggest that the currency could do likewise this Thursday.

Economists are forecasting that the nation added 20,000 jobs in August, which would be the sixth consecutive month when employers hired at least that many people. The Aussie only closed higher on two of the previous five days when the data was released.

A short-term high for the currency may be in place after it failed to close above a July 27 resistance of 80.66 U.S. cents on Friday. The slow stochastics indicator has turned bearish with %D reading of 73, and is falling. The Aussie may be slipping toward the 50-day moving average of 78.95 cents instead of climbing further.

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael G. Wilson in Sydney at mwilson176@bloomberg.net, David Finnerty in Singapore at dfinnerty4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tan Hwee Ann at hatan@bloomberg.net, Ravil Shirodkar