The Australian Dollar has rallied against Sterling and surged back over 90 cents against the US Dollar following the release of better-than-expected trade data out of China.
The Australian currency shook off disappointingly weak jobs figures after China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, showed a rebound in trade with both exports and imports rising in July.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the country’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.7% in July but overall employment fell by 10,200 whilst the participation rate dropped from 65.3% to 65.1%.
“The unemployment rate was unchanged but overall, it was a weak report and we did sell off, but that was reversed following the Chinese data release. We all know the labour market is soft and the data today didn’t really change that view, so the surprise was indeed that the Chinese external sector looks to be a little bit better than we thought,” said Andrew Salter, foreign exchange strategist at ANZ.
The data released by the Beijing based General Administration of Customs showed that Chinese imports increased by 10.9% in July compared with the previous year. Economists had been expecting a 1% rise. Exports meanwhile improved by 5.1% beating the forecasted 2%.
John Horner a strategist at Deutsche Bank AG told Bloomberg; “The worst of China slowdown fear may have passed for now, and that’s helping the Australian Dollar. There’s been considerable short positioning in the currency, and given the rally we have seen in the past few days, those positions may come under further pressure.”
Current Exchange Australian Dollar (AUD) Rates
< Lower > Higher
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9055 >
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6785 >
The Australian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.5839 >
The Australian Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1363 >
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1043 <
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.4738 <
The Pound Sterling /Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.7125 <
The New Zealand Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8800 <
Correct as of 10:15 am GMT
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