• AUD/USD steady in Asia after closing unchanged Wed as Iran war escalates

• Houthis claim attacks on Saudi tankers in Red Sea, risk of new chokepoint

• Higher oil prices, rising U.S. yields, tepid risk appetite cap AUD rally

• Australia's June jobs data, a key input for RBA rate expectations, due Thu

• Expected to rise 15.3k, unemployment rate steady at 4.4%

• Only a 4.6% jobless rate or higher would shift hawkish expectations

• Resistance 0.7020-25, 0.7050, support 0.6980, 0.6960-65

• Wednesday range 0.6980-0.70125
AUD:

(Krishna Kumar is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own.)