USDJPY extends gains, AUD lifted by strong jobs data

The US dollar extended gains versus the yen in Asian trading on Thursday despite the release of some weak US data on Wednesday. It was the top performing currency having posted its biggest one-day gain in more than a month. The euro fell and the Canadian dollar reversed its short-lived Bank of Canada gains.

USDJPY popped back above 109.00 yen, pulling well away from a 17-month low of 107.63 touched a few days ago.

EURUSD fell to $1.1273 from a six-month high of $1.1465.

USDCAD bounced from $1.2744 to $1.2808.

The Aussie had a choppy morning. It fell after a Moody’s warning that Australia could lose it AAA credit rating but AUDUSD bounced back after strong domestic jobs data. The unemployment rate fell to 5.7 percent, the lowest in 2 ½ years and the economy added 26,100 jobs. The data were better than economists’ expectations, and trimmed the odds of a May interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Oil prices fell after following the EIA crude oil inventories report yesterday. Inventories rose by 6.6 million barrels, bringing the total in storage to 536.5 million barrels in the previous week. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 1.1 per cent in Asia today to $43.69 a barre. WTI crude, the US benchmark, fell 1.2 per cent to $41.27.

Gold traded at $1,233.16 an ounce after falling since Tuesday’s high of $1262.

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