Forex: AUD/USD – Dollar with limited support from US trade data

The Australian dollar has declined against the USD in today’s trading, with the trend continuing into the recently opened American session. The Aussie has given up half of the gains made in yesterday’s global anti-USD rally, falling from 0.9306 to 0.9148 early in New York trading.

The greenback appears to be receiving some support the newly-released trade data, but the gains have been limited by a disappointing jobless claims release.

According to the US Department of Labor, first-time applicants for regular state unemployment insurance payments rose by 16,000 last week (w/e July 6) to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, exceeding by a wide margin expectations for 340,000 and well up on the previous week’s adjusted 344,000. Continuing unemployment insurance claims increased by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 2.977 million in the week ended June 29, compared to 2.953 million in the previous week (revised).

Over at the Department of Commerce, US import prices were reported to have risen by 0.2 percent in June y/y, albeit contracting by 0.2 percent month-on-month and missing expectations for 0.5 and zero percent respectively. June’s export prices advanced by 0.8 percent y/y and contracted by 0.1 percent on May’s performance.
Earlier today, during the Sydney session, the Australian dollar was buoyed by better than expected labour market data. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the country’s employers added 10,300 jobs last month in a sizeable recovery from May’s 700 loss. The reading confounded prior estimates that a further 2,500 jobs would disappear in June. The national unemployment rate was up slightly at 5.7 percent in June from 5.6 percent in May.
Latest readings of Australia’s Home Loans and Investment Lending for Homes are due out at 02:30 BST tomorrow, followed by Chinese M2 Money Supply and New Loans.