The Australian dollar was a main mover through an otherwise lackluster Asian session Thursday, driven higher by better-than-expected jobs data. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of people employed in November rose by 13,900 compared with a revised rise of +10,700 in October. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2% from 5.4% as the number of unemployed fell by 16,300 after dropping 10,000 in October. The rise in employed persons was within the range of -20,000 to +15,000 predicted by economists. The unemployment rate of 5.2% was, however, better than median consensus of 5.5% and outside the range of 5.4% to 5.6% that economists predicted. Aussie-dollar started the day around $1.0456, and slipped to a $1.0442 low in early trades amid a slight risk-off environment as worries about the looming U.S. fiscal cliff and Greek debt problems continued. But aussie-dollar jumped sharply after the jobs report, rallying to a high of $1.0481 soon after, before then running into rumored sell orders starting from $1.0500, which capped the move. In late morning trade here, aussie-dollar was at $1.0463 compared with a U.S. close of $1.0456.
EasyForexNews Research Team