Australian Dollar Rises As Upbeat Jobs Data Signals RBA Rate Hike

(RTTNews) - The Australian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, following the release of Australia's employment data, which supports expectations of tighter monetary policy from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that the unemployment rate in Australia came in at a seasonally adjusted 4.1 percent in December. That was well below forecasts for 4.4 percent and down from 4.3 percent in November.

The Australian economy added 65,200 jobs last month - well exceeding forecasts for an increase of 28,300 following the loss of 21,300 jobs in the previous month.

Full-time employment increased by 54,800 to 10,101,100 people, while part-time employment increased by 10,400 to 4,582,900 people.

The participation rate was 66.7 percent - unchanged from November but missing expectations for 66.8 percent.

Asian stock markets are traded higher, as traders react to U.S. President Donald Trump's speech at the World Economic Forum, where he ruled out the use of military force to take control of Greenland. Concerns about a tariff war between the U.S. and Europe also subsided after Trump said he would not go forward with the tariffs he threatened to impose on several European nations.

Trump had announced reaching a Greenland deal "framework" with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Crude oil prices gained as traders assessed Trump's speech at the World Economic Forum, where he sought negotiations on the U.S. bid to acquire Greenland. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.10 or 0.17 percent at $60.46 per barrel.

In the Asian trading today, the Australian dollar rose to more than 1-1/2-year high of 108.03 against the yen and a 9-month high of 1.7174 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 107.04 and 1.7280, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 110.00 against the yen and 1.70 against the euro.

Against the U.S., the Canada and the New Zealand dollars, the aussie advanced to more than a 1-year high of 0.6811, nearly a 3-year high of 0.9409 and a 3-year high of 0.9409 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 0.6761, 0.9355 and 1.1572, respectively. On the upside, 0.69 against the greenback, 0.95 against the loonie and 1.17 against the kiwi are seen as the next resistance levels for the aussie.

Looking ahead, Canada new housing price index for December, U.S. GDP Growth Rate for the third quarter, U.S weekly jobless claims, U.S. core PCE prices for the third quarter, personal income and spending data for November, U.S. Kansas Fed manufacturing index for January and U.S. EIA crude oil data are slated for release in the New York session.