Aussie Dollar Higher After Strong Employment Data; Yuan Falls
Investing.com - The Australia’s dollar rose on Thursday after data showed the country’s employment surged in June, while the Chinese yuan fell after the central bank weakened its fixing beyond 6.7 for the first time since the currency began tumbling in June.
The AUD/USD pair rose 0.2% to 0.7413 as Australia employment surged by more than triple analysts’ forecast in June.
The country’s employment rose 50,900 in June, beating estimate of 16,500, official data showed on Thursday.
The gain in employment “brings an end to the soft patch since January,” said Paul Dales, chief economist for Australia at Capital Economics Ltd. “But at this stage, the unemployment rate isn’t low enough to prompt the RBA to decide that interest rates need to rise soon.”
In China, the People’s Bank of China set the official mid-point at 6.7066 to the dollar, past the key 6.7 level. The USD/CNY pair gained 0.3% to 6.7416.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar held firm against its peers following bullish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments earlier this week. The U.S. Dollar Index remained unchanged at 95.08 on Thursday after hitting a three-week high of 95.407 the previous day.
On the trade front, White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said trade talks with China have paused for now, although discussions with the European Union have been more promising, and that the administration expects a significant trade offer to come from the European Union soon.
Elsewhere, the Japanese yen held modest gains after the Bank of Japan lowered purchases of longer-maturity bonds for the first time since January.
The USD/JPY traded were little changed at 112.81 after touching its lowest level in around six months in the last session.
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