Australian Dollar Rises After Upbeat Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, following the release of Australia's upbeat employment data in October.

Due to the strong job market and growing inflationary pressures, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is unlikely to lower interest rates.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in October. That was below expectations for 4.4 percent and down from 4.5 percent in September.

The Australian economy added 42.2K jobs last month, blowing away expectations for an increase of 20K jobs following the increase of 14.9K in the previous month.

Full-time employment increased by 55,300 to 10,141,600 people, while part-time employment decreased by 13,100 to 4,541,600 people.

Meanwhile, investors remain cautious ahead of the release of a barrage of US economic data after the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a bill to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The end to the impasse would enable the U.S. Fed to gauge the economy precisely well ahead of its December meeting.

The markets and the U.S. Fed were flying blind with no reliable economic data especially on inflation and jobs. Based on the private data releases so far, traders are currently betting on a 65.4% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Fed, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar appreciated to a 12-year high of 1.1616 against the NZ dollar and a 1-year high of 101.66 against the yen, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.1537 and 101.24, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 1.16 against the kiwi and 103.00 against the yen.

The aussie climbed to an 8-day high of 1.7647 against the euro, from Wednesday's closing value of 1.7726. On the upside, 1.75 is seen as the next resistance level for the aussie.

Against the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the aussie jumped to a 2-week high of 0.6566 and a 9-day high of 0.9194 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 0.6541 and 0.9160, respectively. The next possible upside target for the aussie is seen around 0.66 against the greenback and 0.93 against the loonie.

Looking ahead, U.K labour productivity for the third quarter and Eurozone industrial production for September are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, U.K. NIESR monthly GDP tracker for October and U.S. EIA crude oil data are slated for release.