Although the Euro was riding high against several of its peers last week as services and confidence data for the Eurozone impressed and German factory orders surged, the common currency closed Australasian trading softer against its South Pacific counterpart.
The appeal of the ‘Aussie’ may have been dented last week by less-than-impressive domestic services and construction data, but the commodity-driven currency edged higher against its rivals during the local session as investors looked ahead to this week’s Australian jobs data.
The domestic employment report is expected to show a second month of job growth in the nation, with the economy adding 10,000 positions in December following an increase of 21,000 in November.
Australia’s unemployment rate is forecast to hold at 5.8 per cent.
As Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report fell short of estimates, the ‘Aussie’ was able to approach a month high against the US Dollar and strengthen against the Euro.
According to one Sydney-based industry expert; ‘The data coming out of Australia has been stable to good and that needs to continue with the unemployment number later this week for people to reassess their rates outlook. If the Aussie can consolidate above 89.50, there’s potential for a move higher.’
The Australian Dollar was also supported by the news that domestic home loans increased by more than forecast in November, increasing 1.1 per cent rather than the 1.0 per cent expected.
October’s gain was upwardly revised to 1.1 per cent.
Separate data showed that national investment lending increased by 11.5 per cent while the value of loans jumped 1.9 per cent.
A lack of economic news for the Eurozone could limit movement in the EUR/AUD pairing in the hours ahead, but notable movement is likely to occur tomorrow following the publication of Eurozone industrial production figures.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3672 ,
Euro,,British Pound,0.8312 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.5117 ,
Euro,,New Zealand Dollar,1.6431 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.4903 ,
[/table]
