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Employment Numbers do little for the AUD, with the USD on the Slide

The Dollar continued its slide through the Asian session, with sentiment continuing to run weak through the markets. Economic data through the day is unlikely to help the Dollar ahead of tomorrow’s ECB press conference.

Earlier in the Day:

Economic data released through the Asian session this morning included December’s unemployment numbers out of Australia, finalized industrial production figures out of Japan together with house price figures out of the UK, which had little impact on the Pound.

For the Aussie Dollar, the unemployment numbers were on the positive side, with 34.7k jobs being added in December, following an upwardly revised 63.6k in November, with full employment rising by 15.1k, following an upwardly revised 43.6k the previous month.

The run of 15 consecutive monthly employment gains to December equals the record run of 1993, with job growth for the year hitting 3.3%.

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The only negative was an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate, which increased from 5.4% to 5.5%, though this was attributed to the participation rate, which rose from an upwardly revised 65.5% to 65.7%, the highest level since 2011.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.79686 to $0.79468 upon release of the figures, with wage growth leaving the probability of a December rate hike unchanged at 50%.

At the time of writing, the Aussie Dollar was down 0.15% to $0.7958, recovering from an intraday low $0.7942.

Elsewhere, the Yen was down 0.06% to ¥111.36 against the Dollar. The Yen was largely unmoved by the release of the finalized industrial production figures, which reported a 0.5% rise, falling short of a prelim 0.6% increase with the “risk on” sentiment easing demand for the safe havens, which was also reflected in gold prices that were on the retreat through the early part of the day.

In the equity markets, the Nikkei, Hang Seng and CSI300 were in positive territory at the time of writing, with the markets responding to the overnight gains in the U.S, while the ASX200 eased back from gains made early in the session, down 0.02%, with mining stocks offsetting gains made by the big-4 banks, with there being some caution ahead of 4th quarter GDP numbers out of China, scheduled for release later this morning.

The Day Ahead:

There are no material stats scheduled for release out of the Eurozone today, which will leave the EUR in the hands of market risk appetite through the European session and any updates on coalition talks in Germany, with questions continuing to be raised over Merkel’s future as Chancellor.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up 0.08% to $1.2196 giving up some of Wednesday’s gains ahead of the European open.

It’s also a quiet day for the Pound, with no material stats scheduled for release, leaving direction in the hands of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill that goes to the House of Lords following last night’s House of Commons vote in favour of the Bill.

Concerns over the House of Lords holding up the bill may weigh on the Pound, with any chatter on Brexit likely to provide further direction through the day.

At the time of writing, the Pound was down 0.06% to $1.3823.

Across the Pond, economic data out of the U.S includes December housing sector data, January’s Philly FED Manufacturing PMI numbers and the weekly jobless claims data. Forecasts are for the numbers to be Dollar negative, with the key driver this afternoon being the PMI numbers. A better than expected figure will provide some much needed support, with the Dollar on the back foot this morning, the Dollar Spot Index down 0.23% to 90.77.

For the Loonie, stats are limited to December’s ADP nonfarm employment change figures, which will provide some direction, though any material gains off the back of positive numbers would be short lived ahead of the next round of NAFTA talks next week. At the time of writing, the U.S Dollar was up 0.06% to $1.2446 against the Loonie, with Wednesday’s dovish rate hike providing little support early on.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

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