Positive Indicators: Euro, Rand, Pound, and Australian Dollar Rose
(Continued from Prior Part)
Australian dollar found resistance at 0.70
The Australian dollar-US dollar currency pair is directly related to the Australian dollar. It had a strong day of trading on January 14, 2016. The currency pair rose to a high of 0.7002. It hit a resistance and ended the day slightly lower. The currency pair rose by 0.58% for the day. The rise in the Australian dollar was primarily attributed to the strong employment data release early in the day. The release of US unemployment claims on a negative note also impacted the currency pair.
Employment data beat market expectations
The Australian Bureau of Statistics published the labor data for December on January 14, 2016. The number of people employed fell by 1,000 compared to an expected fall of 11,000. The unemployment rate also came out above market expectations at 5.8%. The participation rate rose slightly to 65.2%. The strong employment data provided a bounce back in the Australian dollar. It had been on a downturn due to lackluster Chinese data.
Impact on the market
Australian ETFs were trading on a positive note on January 14, 2016. The CurrencyShares Australian Dollar Trust ETF (FXA) rose by 0.29%. Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI Australia Index Fund ETF (EWA) followed a similar trajectory. It rose by 2.1%.
Australian ADRs (American depositary receipts) trading on US markets were also trading on a positive bias. BHP Billiton (BHP) rose by 6.4%. In the mining sector, British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto (RIO) rose by a 5.8%. Australian banking ADR Westpac Banking (WBK) was also trading on a positive bias. It rose by 2.6% on January 14, 2016.
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