Australian Dollar Falls On Soft Jobs Data

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar came under pressure against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, after soft jobs data reinforced market bets of a rate pause next month.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate of Australia rose to 3.7 percent in April. Economists expect the unemployment to be steady at 3.5 percent, same as last month.

Australia's employment fell by 4,300 in April from March, when it rebounded by a revised 61,100. Market forecasts had been for a rise of 25,000. Also, the Australia's economy lost 27,100 full-time jobs in April.

Market bets for a rate pause at the Reserve Bank of Australia's June 6th meeting.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar fell to nearly a 6-month low of 0.8930 against the Canadian dollar, and a 1-week low of 1.0623 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.8959 and 1.0654, respectively. The aussie may test support near 0.88 against the loonie and 1.04 against the kiwi.

Against the U.S. dollar, the yen and the euro, the aussie dropped to 0.6629, 91.07 and 1.6349 from yesterday's closing quotes of 0.6659, 91.67 and 1.6268, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.65 against the greenback, 88.00 against the yen and 1.66 against the euro.

Looking ahead, ECB President Christine Lagarde will attend at an official celebration of the 175th anniversary of the first German national parliamentary assembly event in Paulskirche in Frankfurt, at 5:00 am ET.

In the New york session, Canada new housing price index for April, U.S. weekly jobless claims and existing home sales for April are due to be released

At 9:05 am ET, Federal Reserve Board Governor Philip Jefferson will deliver a speech on the economic outlook before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) International Insurance Forum, in Washington.

Twenty-Five minutes later, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will testify before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Semi-annual Hearing on Supervision and Regulation, in Washington.

At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorrie Logan will deliver welcome remarks before the Technology-Enabled Disruption Conference: Uncertainty and Prospects for Disruptive Investments conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, in Richmond.