Ella 
AUD/USD extended losses for the second consecutive trading day at the open on Monday, with AUD/USD falling to around 0.6560 in Asia on Monday. The U.S. dollar strengthened on the back of rising U.S. Treasury yields, putting downward pressure on AUD/USD.
At press time, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) was trading around 104.40. The bullish outlook for the dollar is reinforced by the fact that the labor market remains strong (the March report beat expectations).
Despite the good momentum in the U.S. economy, the likelihood of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June remains high. Markets continue to forecast a roughly 70% chance of a rate cut in June, followed by an estimated roughly 75 basis points of easing throughout 2024.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that jobs increased significantly by 303,000 in March, beating expectations for a 200,000 increase. However, the previous estimate of non-farm payrolls (NFP) growth of 275,000 in February was revised down to 200,000. Additionally, U.S. average hourly earnings rose 0.3% monthly in March, in line with expectations. The previous value was 0.2%. Annual growth was 4.1%, in line with market consensus but slightly lower than the previous reading of 4.3%.
