AUD/USD slides to over one-week lows, further below mid-0.7200s

• AUD/USD drifts back into the negative territory for the third consecutive session on Friday.
• A sudden pickup in the USD demand was seen as a key factor exerting pressure on the pair.
• A sharp fall in the US unemployment rate, surging US bond yields underpinned the greenback.

A pickup in the demand for the greenback pushed the AUD/USD pair to fresh weekly lows, further below mid-0.7200s during the early North American session.

The pair failed to capitalize on its intraday uptick, rather faced rejection just ahead of the 0.7300 round-figure mark and drifted back into the negative territory for the third consecutive session. The downtick was exclusively sponsored by the emergence of some fresh buying around the US dollar following the release of the US monthly jobs report.

A slight disappointment from the headline NFP print was largely offset by a larger-than-expected fall in the US unemployment rate. This, coupled with a strong rally in the US Treasury bond yields, provided an additional boost to the greenback, which, in turn, was seen as one of the key factors that prompted some fresh selling around the AUD/USD pair.

Meanwhile, a positive opening in the US equity markets did little to lend any support to the perceived riskier Australian dollar. On the contrary, the AUD/USD pair has now retreated over 170 pips from two-year tops set on Tuesday and eroded a part of strong gains recorded in the previous week, setting the stage for a slide towards the 0.7200 mark.

That said, it will be prudent to wait for some strong follow-through selling before confirming that the pair might have actually topped out in the near-term and positioning for any further depreciating move.

Technical levels to watch

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