The Australian dollar added 0.41% to $0.66935, as the disappointment from China offset some of the Antipodean currency’s strong gains from an upbeat jobs report at home
The Australian dollar rose on Thursday after employment numbers beat forecasts for a sixth consecutive month, while the dollar held near an 11-week high as it drew additional support from a potential Trump win at the upcoming U.S. election.
A press conference in China provided the highlight for the Asia day as Beijing focused on measures to prop up the country’s troubled property sector.
However, the briefing failed to excite markets as policymakers essentially reiterated their commitment to boost the housing market, but did not unveil any new significant measures that some investors were hoping for.
The onshore yuan reversed early gains and dropped 0.05% to 7.1225 per dollar, while its offshore counterpart was last a touch higher at 7.1358 per dollar.
From today’s press conference, we think few incremental policies on boosting home demand were announced, as the minister reiterated municipal governments’ autonomy to relax buying curbs, said Morningstar equity analyst Jeff Zhang.
We expect an acceleration in execution with more distressed developers receiving funds for home completions, which would help shore up homebuyers’ confidence, Zhang said.
The Australian dollar, often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan, added 0.41% to $0.66935, as the disappointment from China offset some of the Antipodean currency’s strong gains from an upbeat jobs report at home.
Data on Thursday showed net employment in Australia soared 64,100 in September from August, well above market expectations for a 25,000 rise, while the jobless rate held steady.
That led traders to pare back bets of a first interest rate cut from the RBA in December.
With the labour market running red hot, the RBA won’t cut rates before the first half of next year, according to Abhijit Surya, Australia and New Zealand economist at Capital Economics.
The euro declined to its lowest in more than two months at $1.0851, ahead of a monetary policy decision from the ECB later on Thursday where it is expected to deliver another rate cut.
Against a stronger dollar, sterling traded 0.05% lower at $1.2984, staying near Wednesday’s two-month low reached on the back of weaker-than-expected UK inflation data.
The yen struggled near the 150 per dollar level and was last at 149.50.
Elsewhere, the New Zealand dollar was up 0.12% at $0.6064.
