Australian dollar UP on job data

from MoneyTrading.com.au

The Australian dollar jumped to a high of $0.9290 after employment figures blew past expectations for a fourth straight month in December, while the jobless rate surprised by falling to an eight-month low, adding to the case for a further increase in interest rates next month.

The local currency jumped a third of a cent and bill futures slid as the market priced in a greater chance of a rate hike at the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) next policy meeting on February 2.

The Australian dollar was $0.9245 before the data was released.

Australian Dollar steady ahead of Job data

from MoneyTrading.com.au

The Australian Dollar recovered from yesterday’s losses ahead of the Unemployment data due to be released at 11:30 AEDST. The report is expected to show that employers have added jobs for the 4th consecutive month. Economists expect 10,000 jobs were added the previous month.

It appears that the fundamentals supporting the Aussie’s growth remain strong, as positive economic data continues to be published even as the Central Bank continues to raise interest rates. Long term trend for the AUD continues to remain optimistic.

The AUD last traded at 92.43 U.S. cents. We continue to hold our long AUDUSD at 91.40 US cent.

Aussie opens lower after Chinese Central Bank reserve raised

from MoneyTrading.com.au

The Australian dollar opened lower after China unexpectedly raised the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside as reserves, leading to falls in gold and commodity prices. The Australian dollar was trading at 0.9204USD last. During the offshore session, the Australian dollar traded between 0.9189 USD and 0.9307 USD.

China raised the proportion of deposits that banks must set aside as reserves to cool the world's fastest-growing major economy as a credit boom threatens to stoke inflation and create asset bubbles. Reserve requirements will increase by 50 basis points from January 18, the central bank said. That move was expected at some point, but probably it occurred a bit earlier than what the market factored in, and as a result we saw concerns raised about a tightening in Chinese monetary policy and whether that will slow Chinese growth and slow demand for commodities.

Dollar dips as housing finance disappoints.

from MoneyTrading.com.au

The Australian dollar was lower today after the release of worse-than-expected housing finance figures.

At midday, the Australian dollar was trading at 92.7 US cents, down from yesterday’s close of 93.11 US cents. Australian housing finance commitments for owner-occupied housing fell 5.6 per cent in November. Economists had expected the number of owner-occupier housing finance commitments to have fallen by 0.5 per cent in November.

Following weak US Job data, Australian dollar soared on the back of strong export numbers from China.

from MoneyTrading.com.au

During the thin trading conditions with Tokyo shut for a holiday, We expect the greenback to stay on the defensive as speculators cut long positions in the U.S. dollar following the U.S. jobs report. Data on Friday showed U.S. employers cut 85,000 jobs last month. November payrolls, however, were revised to show the economy actually added 4,000 jobs.

Interest rate futures pared expectations the Fed will raise benchmark short-term rates any time soon. July futures contract implied a 22 percent chance of a rate hike by mid-2010, down from around 40 percent before the jobs data.

The U.S. dollar's next litmus test is expected to come from U.S. earnings season which kicks off in earnest this week, U.S. retail sales, industrial production and inflation data.

The European Central Bank will also meet on Thursday and is largely expected to keep rates unchanged.

The Australian dollar rallied to a 26-month high versus the euro, rising to as high as 0.6442 euros. The Aussie also struck a fresh five-week high of $0.9318 buoyed by strong Chinese export numbers.

The Aussie was also bolstered by a rise in gold prices. Spot gold rose to a five-week high early on Monday.

We have our AUDUSD Long at 0.9142 still open.