AUD/JPY - Offered above key Fib, turns negative after Aussie jobs data

• AUD/JPY offered near 89.00 levels.
• Fails to hold above 88.690 - 76.4% Fib R of Sep-Nov drop.
• Aussie Dec employment change beats estimates, jobless rate rises.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported better-than-expected December employment change figures, but the Aussie dollar is not impressed.

The AUD/JPY ran into offers 88.97 and hit a session low of 88.41 even though the ABS data showed more than 34K jobs were created across Australia last month, beating the estimated growth of 9K by a big margin. Also, the previous month's print was revised higher to 63.6K from 61.6K.

Further, full-time employment change came in at 15.1k versus the upwardly revised 43.6k in November. However, the jobless rate ticked higher to 5.5 percent from 5.4 percent as expected.

Still, the AUD is trading on the back foot. The Aussie 10-year yield has backed off from the session high of 2.81 percent to 2.78 percent. The price action indicates the upbeat jobs number has failed to overshadow the uptick in the jobless rate. Further, a sharp slowdown in the full-time jobs growth could have played a role in pushing the Aussie lower.

AUD/JPY Technical Levels

As of writing, the currency pair is trading at 88.45. A move below 88.41 (session low + Jan. 2 and Jan. 16 high) would expose 88.16 (10-day MA) and 88.03 (61.8% Fib R of Sep-Nov drop). On the higher side, a break above 88.52 (resistance on 1-hour chart) would open doors for re-test of 88.90 (76.4% Fib R) and 89.00 (zero levels).