AUD/USD drops in the red on below-forecast Aussie wage price index

• A weaker-than-expected Aussie wage price index validates RBA's recent dovish turn and growing calls for a rate cut. 
• AUD/USD is reporting marginal losses at press time and could soon drop to the 50-day MA. 

A below-forecast Aussie wage price index (WPI) released soon before press time has weakened the bid tone around AUD/USD. 

The currency pair is currently reporting marginal losses at 0.7160, having hit a session low of 0.7152 immediately after the release of the dismal data. 

The WPI rose 0.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, missing the estimated print of 0.6 percent, leaving the annualized figure unchanged at 2.3 percent, as expected. 

A weaker-than-expected quarterly figure validates growing chorus of investors and analysts anticipating a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia. As a result, AUD/USD could drop to the 50-day moving average (MA), currently at 0.7142, in the next few hours. 

The central bank put rate cuts back on the table earlier this month, ditching the long-held view that the next move in rates would be on the higher side. As of writing, the markets are fully priced for the RBA to cut interest rate by the middle of next year.

AUD/USD Technical Levels