Aussie rises after strong jobs data and yuan jumps

The Australian dollar rose on Thursday after the country’s jobs data beat expectations, while the yuan rose after China moved to curb its currency’s decline by loosening a rule for cross-border financing.

Thursday’s data showed that employment in Australia easily beat expectations for the second consecutive month in June, with net employment rising by 32,600 in June from May, beating market expectations for an increase of 15,000.

This pushed the Australian dollar up by more than 0.9 percent, hitting a one-day high of $0.6834.

The New Zealand dollar also rose 0.57% to $0.6299.

In Asia, the central bank and China’s foreign exchange regulator said they have raised the cross-border macroprudential adjustment standard for companies and financial institutions, a move aimed at making it easier for local firms to raise funds from overseas markets.

This comes at a time when the Chinese yuan is under pressure as the country’s economic recovery falters.

Allowing more capital inflows would ease pressure on the currency.

The yuan jumped in the domestic and foreign markets after this move, and rose in both cases by more than 0.5 percent against the dollar.

The yuan recorded abroad 7.1901 per dollar, and at home it exceeded 7.18 per dollar.

The British Pound recovered some of the heavy losses incurred after falling sharply in the previous session following inflation data in Britain, which came in below market expectations.

The pound sterling was last up 0.15% at $1.2958, after falling more than 0.7% on Wednesday.

The euro rose 0.24 percent to $1.1227, as investors await the European Central Bank’s policy meeting next week, seeking more clarity on interest rate expectations.

The dollar index settled in the latest reading at 100.03, regaining some of its gains after declining last week by more than two percent in reaction to US inflation data, which came less than expected.

The Japanese yen rose 0.3 percent to 139.23 per dollar.