A rather quiet session today in Asia with the big news being Australian employment data coming in stronger than expected, thus pushing the Aussie dollar higher with the Euro and Pound in its wake. Australian employment data showed a surprising gain of 32,200 jobs as opposed to the expected loss of 18,000 jobs and an unemployment rate that stayed steady at 5.8% as opposed to rising to the projected 6.0%. The AUD/USD reacted instantly, blasting from 0.8420 levels to fall just shy of 0.8460, pulling the Euro, and Pound higher with it. The elation was short lived however as a plethora of upcoming data and the possibility of China tightening monetary policy helped push cooler heads to prevail. Many now expect the next move out of the RBA to be a rate hike, as the nation seems to be at the forefront of the global economic turnaround. Later, the AUD/USD pared its gains back near 0.8410, but as the day waned looked to have a little push left in it. On the other side of the employment spectrum was New Zealand, whose unemployment rate jumped to a nine year high of 6.0%, higher than the expected 5.6% as well as last months 5.0%. The NZD/USD shed about 40 pips to dip below 0.6700 on the day.
Most yen crosses were steady for the day with Asian equities mixed and traders short of ideas and looking for direction ahead of the Bank of England and European Central Bank's rate decisions later in the day. USD/JPY was almost in the same ranges as yesterday, and was able to pop through 95.20 at the top of its 40 pip range. A quiet EUR/USD hovered above the 1.4400 figure for the majority of the day, but slipped below that level late in the session with traders adjusting positions in preparation of the ECB decision. Although both the ECB and BOE will announce rates later in the day, both are expected to remain unchanged, at 1.00% and 0.50% respectively. As is usually the case when rates go unchanged, it's usually the statements that follow that can fuel a move in the markets. With the past few days of consolidation in currencies, it can safely be assumed that the market is looking for a reason to break out of current ranges.
Upcoming Economic Data Releases (London Session) prior expected
| 8/6/2009 | 5:45 | SZ | SECO Consumer Climate | JUL | -38 | -42 |
| 8/6/2009 | 10:00 | GE | Factory Orders MoM (sa) | JUN | 4.40% | 0.60% |
| 8/6/2009 | 10:00 | GE | Factory Orders YoY (nsa) | JUN | -29.40% | -26.50% |
| 8/6/2009 | 11:00 | UK | BOE ANNOUNCES RATES | 6-Aug | 0.50% | 0.50% |
| 8/6/2009 | 11:45 | EC | ECB Announces Interest Rates | 6-Aug | 1.00% | 1.00% |
