GBP/AUD: testing 1.61 handle and reversed the sell-off on key fundamentals

Currently, GBP/AUD is trading at 1.6106, up 1.00% on the day, having posted a daily high at 1.6131 and low at 1.5904.

GBP/AUD has reversed this week's sell-off from the 1.6120/30 regions and the 200 smoothed ma on the hourly chart. "The combination of weaker than expected Australian February Labour Force data and a decidedly less dovish set of minutes from BoE's MPC caused a steady rise in GBP/AUD," explained analysts at Westpac. 

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Australia reported the unemployment rate had ticked up to 5.9% from 5.7%, while the participation rate was unchanged at 64.6%. there was also a 6.4k drop in employment vrs a median forecast by Bloomberg that was for a 16k increase after 13.5k in January.  "One positive aspect of the report was the mix of full and part-time jobs," explained analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman,  "Full-time positions increased by 27.1k after a 44.1k decline previously, while there were 33.5k less part-time jobs after a 57.5k surge in January."

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GBP/AUD levels

GBP/AUD is up to the aforementioned 200 smoothed EMA on the hourly time frame. The next leg higher at 1.6163 ahead of 1.6200 and 1.6268 start of March highs. To the downside, 1.5900 remain the key psychological level. 1.6020 is a strong level of support for 2017 so far tested on three occasions and broken only once.