Australian Dollar Rises On Upbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, after data showed that Australian jobs rebounded more than expected in August.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of employed people rose by 64,900 in August, following a decline of 14,600 in the prior month. Economists had expected an increase of 23,000.

Meanwhile, the reports also showed that the unemployment rate held steady at 3.7 percent in August as economists expected.

Traders' focus shifts to the European Central Bank (ECB) policy meeting later in the day.

The ECB is likely to raise interest rates for a 10th consecutive meeting but it's a close call, given growing concerns about growth.

The central bank will update its forecasts for growth and inflation at today's meeting.

Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve may opt to leave its policy rate unchanged at its Sept. 20 meeting, but markets now see a 40 percent chance of a quarter-point rate increase at the central bank's November meeting.

Trading later in the day may be impacted by reaction to a slew of U.S. economic data, including reports on weekly jobless claims, retail sales and producer price inflation.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar rose to more than a 2-week high of 94.96 against the yen and nearly a 1-1/2-month high of 1.6637 against the euro from yesterday's closing quotes of 94.96 and 1.6702, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it may resist around 96.00 against the yen and 1.63 against the euro.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie advanced to a 9-day high of 0.6454 and a 2-day high of 0.8733 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6421 and 0.8698, respectively. The aussie may test resistance around 0.68 against the greenback and 0.88 against the loonie.

The other Antipodean currency, the NZ dollar, also strengthened against its major rivals after the release of Australian jobs data.

The NZ dollar rose to more than a 1-month high of 1.8065 against the euro and a 3-day high of 87.45 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.8122 and 87.24, respectively. If the kiwi extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.76 against the euro and 90.00 against the yen.

Against the U.S. and Australian dollars, the kiwi advanced to a 9-day high of 0.5945 and a 3-day high of 1.0835 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.5917 and 1.0846, respectively. The kiwi may test resistance around 0.61 against the greenback and 1.07 against the aussie.

Looking ahead, the European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy decision at 8:15 am ET. Markets widely expect the ECB to hike the key rate by a final quarter point today. However, such a move raises the risk of recession in the currency bloc.

The ECB has raised rates by a cumulative 375 basis points with hikes in every policy session of the current tightening cycle that began in July last year. At the last meeting in July, the main refinancing rate, or refi, was lifted by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent.

At 8:45 am ET, ECB President Christine Lagarde is set to hold the press conference.

The ECB will also publish staff macroeconomic projections today, at 9.45 am ET.

Canada wholesale sales data for July, U.S. PPI, retail sales data for August, weekly jobless claims data and U.S. business inventories for July are slated for release in the New York session.