By: DailyForex.com
The Aussie and New Zealand Dollars were provided with a solid boost after trade data from China came in with an unexpected yet welcome surprise. According to China’s General Administration of Customs, the Trade Balance rose in December to $60.9 billion, well above the $53.0 billion estimated which would have been a decrease from the previous month. Additionally, both imports and exports were unexpectedly improved. That data helped temper the market’s pessimism towards China which is the second largest economy on the globe.
As reported at 11:00 am (GMT) in London, the AUD/USD was trading at $0.7030, a gain of 0.77%; the pair had earlier hit a high of $0.7049. Meanwhile the NZD/USD was trading 0.44% higher at $0.6565; the pair ranged from $0.6533 to $0.6589 in today’s trading session. Both the Aussie and Kiwi Dollars, but especially the Aussie Dollar, are viewed by markets as a proxy for China given the exceptionally strong trade relationship.
Dollar Helped by Calmed Nerves
The news out of China also helped to calm overall nervous jitters and lifted the US Dollar Index as a result. The Index rose to 99.264 .DXY, a gain of 0.29% and moving well away from Monday’s trough of 98.252 .DXY. The USD/JPY was trading at 118.2700 Yen, a gain of 0.45% while the EUR/USD was lower at $1.0817, down 0.29%. The EUR/USD pair ranged from $1.0805 to $1.0850 in today’s trade.