AUD/USD surpasses 0.7180 on bullish Chinese trade statistics

The AUD/USD pair has attempted to surpass 0.7180 as China's National Bureau of Statistics released year-to-date trade figures that exceeded expectations (YTD). Imports have increased by 4.1% in dollar terms, while exports have increased by 16.9%. The U.S. Trade Balance came in at $78.76B, far higher than the forecast of $58B and the previous reading of $51.12B. Notably, Australia is China's most important trading partner, and Chinese trade statistics has a huge influence on the antipodes.

Australian bulls are underperforming versus the dollar despite the Reserve Bank of Australia's announcement of a massive rate rise (RBA). The Reserve Bank of Australia increased its Official Cash Rate (OCR) by 50 basis points (bps). The market consensus anticipated a 25 basis point rate increase.

The estimate of a 25 basis point rate rise was based on increasing inflation and a sluggish labor market. Last week, the Australian economy announced an Employment Change of 4k, indicating that the economy created 4k jobs in May, which was much less than the expected 30k.

Due to the lack of liquidity in the economy, more quantitative tightening measures diminish job chances. Therefore, a rate increase of a quarter to one percent was preferable. Now, severe quantitative restraints may lead to inefficiencies in the employment creation process.

The US dollar index (DXY) is battling to hold above 102.60. As investors anticipate the announcement of US inflation data on Friday, the odds favor an increase in the DXY's value. The preliminary estimate for the annual inflation rate is 8.3 percent, while the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) is anticipated to be 5.9 percent, down from 6.2 percent in the previous reading.