On Thursday, the Australian dollar gained smartly on better than expected jobs data, while the Japanese yen help solid gains on a weaker greenback and as trade data showed a wider than expected surplus, although imports sagged more than expected, thus highlighting fragile demand.
The currency pair USD/JPY traded at 99.80, showing a 0.40% slump against the greenback because market participants digested the latest FOMC minutes. Simultaneously, AUD/USD was worth 0.7711, rising 0.72%.
Australia, employment change figures for July demonstrated a leap of 26,200, quite above the expected revenue of 11,000 jobs, helping the unemployment rate to sink to 5.7% from an intact 5.8% observed with the participation rate of 64.9% as expected. Meanwhile, in China, July’s house prices soared 7.9%, better than last month up 7.3% year-on-year.
A bit earlier in Japan, the adjusted trade balance surplus for July accounted for ¥320 billion, which is wider than the ¥140 billion observed as imports dipped 24.7%, more than the expected 20.6% year-on-year sag for the 19th drop in-a-row.
