By: Barbara Zigah
Positive economic news continues to help boost the Australian Dollar in Asian trading, encouraging investors to take on riskier, higher yielding currencies. Data released yesterday by the Australian government showed that employment figures increased for the 4th straight month last month, and the unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in 8 months, all of which points to the strong likelihood of another rate increase. As reported at 2:59 p.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the Australian Dollar edged up to $0.9297, an increase of .7% from yesterday’s late trading in the U.S. Versus the Japanese Yen, the Aussie traded at 85.25 Yen, a gain of 1% established following the data’s release.
Attention will be focused on the ECB policy meeting to be held later today. Most analysts believe that the historical low interest rates will remain unchanged. The single currency Euro, considered a higher-yielding currency, edged up versus the Yen to trade at 133.30 Yen. Versus the U.S. Dollar, the Euro traded at $1.4538, an increase of .2%; yesterday the Euro established a new 1-month peak when it hit $1.4580 on the EBS trading platform. Some analysts believe, however, that the Euro has effectively bottomed out, and many market players continue to express concerns over Greece’s debt problems.