Australian Dollar Strengthens After Upbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - During the early Asian session on Thursday, the Australian dollar climbed against its key counterparts after the release of the nation's strong jobs data.

Australia's employment increased unexpectedly in April, the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed today.

The number of employed persons rose by 15,500 to 11.5 million in April after adjusting to seasonal variations. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed persons fell by 28,800 to 598,200.

The unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in April, down from 5.2 percent in March. Economists were looking for an increase to 5.3 percent.

The aussie rose to 1.0105 against the U.S. dollar and 80.55 against the yen from yesterday's close of 1.0054 and 80.08, respectively. The next upside target level for the aussie is seen at 1.015 against the greenback and 81.5 against the yen.

Japan saw a current account surplus of 1.589 trillion yen in March, the Ministry of Finance said today. That beat forecasts for a surplus of Y1.449 trillion yen after showing a surplus of Y1.177 trillion yen in February.

The trade balance came in with a surplus of 4.2 billion yen, also beating expectations for a deficit of 42.8 billion yen after the surplus of 102.1 billion yen in the previous month.

Against the NZ dollar, the aussie advanced to 1.2860, compared to an early low of 1.2807. If the aussie rises further, it may target the 1.29 level. The pair closed Wednesday's deals at 1.2823.

The aussie is now trading at 2-day highs of 1.2815 against the euro and 1.0122 against the Canadian dollar with 1.27 and 1.015 seen as the next upside target levels, respectively. At Wednesday's close, the aussie was worth 1.0082 against the loonie and 1.2867 against the euro.

In the European session, ECB monthly report for May, U.K. industrial production and trade data for March are due for release.

At 7:00 am ET, Bank of England will announce its interest rate decision. The central bank is widely expected to maintain its interest rate at 0.50 percent.

The U.S. trade data for March, weekly jobless claims for the week ended May 5 and export & import price indexes for April, Canada's trade data and new housing price index for March are likely to garner attention in the New York morning session.

3 thoughts on “Australian Dollar Strengthens After Upbeat Jobs Data

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