The post AUD/USD slides nearly 1% to test the 0.7000 handle appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

AUD/USD fell about 1% on Thursday, wrapping the day up near the 0.7010 level after testing below the key 0.7000 handle intraday. The pair has now pulled back sharply from Tuesday’s bounce, with two consecutive bearish sessions erasing most of the week’s early gains. Price continues to chop within the roughly 150-pip consolidation band between 0.7000 and the year-to-date high close to 0.7150 that has defined the range since early February. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) hiked rates to 3.85% in February, its first increase since late 2023, and Governor Michele Bullock said on Tuesday that the March meeting is “live” for another move. Wednesday’s Q4 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data showed the economy expanded 0.8% in the final quarter of 2025, with annual growth hitting 2.6%, the strongest pace since early 2023. While the data keeps hawkish expectations alive, market pricing currently implies only around a 30% chance of a March hike, with a move to 4.10% in May still fully priced. Surging Crude Oil prices, driven by the effective Strait of Hormuz shutdown and still-brewing Iranian war, are adding fresh inflation concerns that Bullock flagged this week as a risk that could “reignite domestic inflationary pressures.” On the US Dollar (USD) side, Federal Reserve (Fed) officials continue to publicly debate the possibility of raising rates if inflation stays above target, with key policymakers adamant that interest rate cuts are still on-track this year. Safe-haven demand continues to support the Greenback as the Iran conflict enters its sixth day. Attention turns to Friday’s Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report, where consensus sits around 60K for February, a sharp slowdown from January’s above-trend 130K print. AUD/USD daily chart Technical Analysis In the daily chart, AUD/USD trades at 0.7009. The near‑term bias is mildly bullish as price holds well above the rising…

---

Filed under: News - @ March 5, 2026 11:18 pm