Dismal China data hurts aussie

The US dollar starts the new week with momentum after the US non-farm payrolls data on Friday boosted the currency. The data was strong almost without exception and this fueled the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would begin hiking rates by the middle of this year.

A total of 257,000 jobs were created last month, beating expectations. This followed from a 329,000 gain in December that was upwardly revised from 240,000.
The dollar rallied to a high of 119.21 yen on Friday before easing slightly on profit taking on Monday.

However, on Monday, dismal trade data from China overshadowed the nonfarm payrolls news as it raised concerns about a deepening slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s drop in both imports and exports weighed on the aussie which opened in Asia with a gap lower at 0.7760 against the US dollar. China’s exports fell 3.3 per cent in January from a year earlier, while imports contracted 19.9 per cent.

The euro will be in focus this week, as the Eurogroup meeting takes place on Wednesday and the EU leaders economic summit is on Thursday. Greece will be high on the agenda.
For now the euro is holding steady at $1.1330 after having plunged from Friday’s 1.1465, following the US jobs data.

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