AUD/USD Seesaws on China PMI Data as US Jobs Report Looms

Talking Points:

• Australian Dollar rallied and then quickly fell after China’s PMI figures
• Manufacturing PMI 50.2 in March vs 49.4 expected and 49.0 in February
• Price reversal likely due to traders waiting for US jobs data for direction

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The AUD/USD exchange rate rallied and then quickly reversed price-action after China released its official PMI figures for March. The headline manufacturing barometer posted its highest reading since May 2015 with a print of 50.2, better than economists’ forecast of 49.4. The Non-manufacturing gauge crossed the wires at 53.8, compared to the prior of 52.7.

Later, Caixin’s Manufacturing PMI for the world’s second largest economy showed a print of 49.7, better than the expectation of 48.3 and February’s reading of 48. This was the highest mark since February 2015.

The volatile price-action may be due to traders waiting for the main event risk of the week before choosing a directional bias, the US labor statistics. Non-farm payrolls and average hourly earnings will be closely tracked by the financial markets because they are key drivers for FOMC monetary policy speculation, a major theme driving risk appetite and the sentiment-linked Aussie.

In addition, the PMI figures come after Standard & Poor’s downgrade China’s credit rating from “stable” to “negative”.