AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR RISES ON POSITIVE EMPLOYMENT FIGURES, DOVISH REMARKS BY FED

• Australian Dollar extends gains on positive economic data from Australia.
• Australian Employment Change surged to 116.5K in February, exceeding expectations of 40.0K.
• US Dollar weakens following the Fed's reaffirmation of expectations for three interest rate cuts in 2024.

The Australian Dollar (AUD) continued its upward momentum for the second consecutive session on Thursday, likely buoyed by positive employment data from Australia. Concurrently, the US Dollar (USD) saw a significant decline following the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) decision to maintain rates at 5.5% during Wednesday's policy meeting. This decision provided support for the AUD/USD pair. Furthermore, remarks made by US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell in the post-meeting press conference, signaling a dovish stance, exerted additional downward pressure on the Greenback.

Australian equity market surrendered its intraday gains and slipped into negative territory. This could potentially limit the AUD's advance. However, earlier in the trading day, the ASX 200 Index surged by nearly 1.0%, aligning with a rally on Wall Street from the previous session.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) exhibited a gap down on Thursday following its significant decline in the preceding session. Weaker US Treasury yields contributed to the losses in the US Dollar, which were likely influenced by the Fed's reaffirmation of expectations for three interest rate cuts in 2024.