Following a two day rally, the U.S. Dollar’s gains were halted upon the release of unexpectedly mixed data which left market players guessing about the greenback’s likely future direction. Yesterday, the release of data which showed new unemployment claims for the week was better than expected while at the same time the Fed’s Philadelphia survey of employment was likewise unexpectedly improved.
As reported at 10:03 a.m. (JST) in Tokyo, the U.S. Dollar Index slipped to 80.915 .DXY, a loss of 0.1% in the overnight hours and still close to last week’s trough after the NFP data release. The USD/JPY drifted from a 1-week high at 104.925 to trade at 104.31 Yen.
Australian Dollar Still Feeling Pressure
News from Australia about worse than expected unemployment figures set the Aussie Dollar back hard, with investors now nearly certain that the Australian Reserve Bank could be forced to lower interest rates which resulted in a sell off of the Australian currency. The AUD/USD crept higher to $0.8816, still within striking distance of yesterday’s 1% loss to $0.8777, a price last struck in August 2010. Analysts say that a number of buy orders at a price below $0.88 could give the Aussie some support in the short term; they foresee a small bounce ahead though as the price approaches oversold territory.