Australian Dollar Falls After Australia Employment Data

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, following the release of Australia's employment data showing a smaller-than-expected rise in employment in March.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the number of employed persons increased 32,200 from the previous month, when it declined by revised 57,400. However, this was weaker than the expected increase of 39,800. At the same time, the number of unemployed rose by 3,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent from downwardly revised 4.0 percent in the December quarter. The rate was expected to advance to 4.2 percent.

The employment-to-population ratio remained at 64.1 percent in March, while the participation rate increased slightly to 66.8 percent.

Monthly hours worked decreased 0.3 percent despite the growth in employment.

Accordingly, the Reserve Bank of Australia will only cut rates by another 50bp this cycle, well below the 125bp of cuts markets have priced in, the economist added.

The escalating U.S.-China trade tensions and a deteriorating outlook for global trade continued to weigh on market sentiment.

At the April meeting, policymakers of the RBA said the May meeting would be an opportune time to revisit the monetary policy setting. The bank had retained its interest rate at 4.10 percent in April.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to a 2-day low of 0.8801 against the Canadian dollar, from yesterday's closing value of 0.8827. The aussie may test support around the 0.84 region.

Against the yen and the euro, the aussie dropped to 90.31 and 1.7933 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 90.38 and 1.7892, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 85.00 against the yen and 1.86 against the euro.

Against the New Zealand and the Canadian dollars, the aussie slid to 1.0723 and 0.6335 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.0730 and 0.6369, respectively. On the downside, 1.06 against the kiwi and 0.60 against the greenback are seen as the next support levels for the aussie.

Looking ahead, the European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy at 8:15 am ET. The central bank is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points - marking the sixth straight reduction amid signs of falling inflation and rising risks to growth.

Half-an-hour later, ECB's updated economic projections and President Christine Lagarde's press conference is due.

In the New York session, U.S. housing starts, building permits for March, weekly jobless claims data and U.S. Baker Hughes oil rig count data are slated for release.